Chennai Super Kings appoint Ruturaj Gaikwad as captain for IPL 2024 season opener

New Delhi, March 21 (IANS) Right-handed opening batter Ruturaj Gaikwad has been appointed as the new captain of Chennai Super Kings for the upcoming IPL 2024 edition, succeeding the legendary Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The announcement was made on Thursday, a day before CSK’s season opener against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Friday.

The franchise stated, “M.S. Dhoni has handed over Chennai Super Kings’ captaincy to Ruturaj Gaikwad ahead of the start of IPL 2024. Ruturaj has been an integral part of Chennai Super Kings since 2019 and has played 52 matches in IPL during this period. The team looks forward to the upcoming season.”

Gaikwad’s captaincy was also confirmed through the tournament’s social media accounts on Thursday. He participated in a pre-tournament captains photoshoot and met with other teams’ skippers. This will be the first time that Gaikwad, based in Pune, will lead a team in the IPL.

This will mark only the second time that M.S. Dhoni will not be leading CSK at the beginning of an IPL season, with Ravindra Jadeja taking over as captain in IPL 2022 before Dhoni resumed the role after eight matches.

The announcement brings an end to Dhoni’s long tenure as CSK captain, which started in the inaugural IPL season in 2008 and included five trophy-winning campaigns. Dhoni led the team in 212 IPL matches, with 128 wins and 82 losses.

Shortly before the official announcement, Dhoni had hinted at a change in his ‘role’ for the upcoming season. Gaikwad, who won the Orange Cap in 2021 and was instrumental in CSK’s last two title wins, will now take on the responsibility of leading the team in the IPL 2024 season.