Achi news desk-
Chennai2 days ago
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Source: Chennai Super Kings Social Media.
Chennai Super Kings have announced a change of captain a day before the start of the Indian Premier League (IPL-2024). Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who has made the team a champion 5 times, has decided to give up the captaincy.
In his place, the 27-year-old young batsman Rituraj Gaikwad will manage the team. He has become the fourth captain of the franchise. Before this, MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja were in charge of the team.
CSK issued a statement saying – ‘MS Dhoni has handed over the captaincy of Chennai Super Kings to Ruturaj Gaikwad before the start of IPL 2024. Gaikwad has been a part of Chennai Super Kings since 2019 and has played 52 matches in IPL during this period. The team is looking forward to the upcoming season. The opening match of this season will be played between Chennai and Bengaluru at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Friday.
CSK played 14 out of 16 seasons, Dhoni captained them all
The team was part of 14 out of 16 seasons of IPL. Dhoni remained the captain in all these seasons. After facing bans in 2016 and 2017, Dhoni took over again and led the titles in 2018 and 2021. Ravindra Jadeja was made captain in 2022, but Jadeja stepped down mid-season and Dhoni had to take over again. After this, in the 2023 season, Dhoni made Chennai champion for the 5th time under his leadership. Raina has also led the team in some matches.
Why was Gaikwad made captain?
Gaikwad was seen as a leadership option in cricket circles for a long time. Even when he played his first season for Chennai, some experts were calling him the captain of the future. He is also said to be Dhoni’s choice. Gaikwad is still 27 years old and can play for the team for a long time.
Apart from this, he is very consistent in batting. He has scored runs at an average above 40 for CSK every year except the 2022 season. He has also captained Maharashtra in domestic cricket.
Gaikwad has captained the Indian team, won an Asian gold medal
Young batsman Ruturaj Gaikwad has led the Indian cricket team in the past. He was made the captain of the Indian men’s team in the Asian Games played in China in 2022. Gaikwad had won the gold medal for India in those games.
The last Asian match between India and Afghanistan was a no-win due to rain. Hence, Team India was declared the champion due to the highest position.
Gaikwad has been playing for CSK since the 2019 season.
Gaikwad, who plays domestic cricket for Maharashtra, has been part of the Chennai Super Kings team since the 2019 season. So far, he has played 52 matches in four seasons and has scored 1797 runs at an average of 39.07 and a strike rate of of 135.52.
