Ruturaj Gaikwad is officially now the captain of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the 2024 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). MS Dhoni handed over the leadership to the youngster a day before the opening game of IPL 2024. The CEO of the franchise Kasi Viswanathan has now opened up on the decision of the change in captaincy just before the start of the tournament revealing that even he got to know of the decision just before the captains' shoot.
But he insisted that MS Dhoni always takes decisions in the best interest of the team but believed that Ruturaj would've known of it in advance. "I got to know of the decision just before the captains meeting. You have to respect his decision, it is his call - Whatever Dhoni does, it is in the best interest of the team. I believe that Rutu must have been hinted about it in advance. That is the way MS functions. He must have consulted him before deciding to hand over the reins to him. But we informed Mr Srinivasan only this morning," he told PTI.
A couple of years ago, Ravindra Jadeja was handed over the reins of the CSK team in the same way but the move didn't work for the team then. CSK had lost the majority of the matches before Dhoni again took over and eventually won the next edition (IPL 2023). "That captaincy transition on Ravindra Jadeja time did not work out but this is different," he added. Meanwhile, CSK head coach Stephen Fleming has also reacted to the transition stating that the team is ready for the change this time unlike in 2022 season. He also expected MS Dhoni to play the entire season.
"We weren't ready to move away from MS in 2022. Dhoni has a good sense of the game, but we want to develop the young players for the role. We are well prepared this time. Expecting MS to play the whole season. His body is much better from last season," Fleming said.
