Ruturaj Gaikwad reacted to his appointment as the new Chennai Super Kings captain on the eve of the opening IPL 2024 game against Royal Challengers Bangalore in Chennai on Thursday, March 21.
Chennai Super Kings announced Ruturaj Gaikwad's promotion to captain, replacing legendary MS Dhoni a day before the opening game. Gaikwad, who has been with CSK since 2019, revealed his excitement to take such a huge responsibility and stated that the experience in the CSK camp will guide him in the new role.
"It is a privilege, more than that, it is a huge responsibility but I am really excited because of the kind of group we have," Ruturaj Gaikwad said in a video shared by CSK on their X page. "Everyone's experienced enough so not much of a thing for me to do."
"Plus I have Mahi bhai in the team, Jaddu bhai and Ajju bhai (Rahane) as well, who has been a great captain, to guide me. So nothing much to worry about. Looking forward to enjoy it."
Gaikwad, 27, recently led the Indian cricket team to a Gold medal at the Asian Games 2023 in Hangzhou and also represents his state team Maharashtra in the domestic tournaments. Gaikwad became the regular after a breakthrough season in IPL 2021 where he won the Orange Cap for scoring 635 runs in 16 innings for the title-winning side.
The right-handed opener also recorded 590 runs in 15 IPL innings last season to help CSK clinch the record-levelling fifth title under MS Dhoni's leadership. Gaikwad's first assignment comes against his former opening partner Faf du Plessis-led Royal Challengers Bengaluru at MA Chidambaram Stadium on Friday.
Chennai Super Kings squad for IPL 2024:
Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), MS Dhoni (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ajinkya Rahane, Moeen Ali, Deepak Chahar, Shivam Dube, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Tushar Deshpande, Mitchell Santner, Maheesh Theekshana, Prashant Solanki, Simarjeet Singh, Mukesh Choudhary, Ajay Mandal, Nishant Sindhu, Shaik Rasheed. Rachin Ravindra, Shardul Thakur, Daryl Mitchell, Sameer Rizwi, Mustafizur Rahman, Avanish Rao Aravelly (wk), Devon Conway, Matheesha Pathirana.
Injury doubts: Devon Conway, Matheesha Pathirana.
