MS Dhoni leaves CSK in tears and surprises his teammates out of nowhere on the eve of the IPL: ‘Not a single dry eye in the dressing room’ | Cricket | Top Vip News

When it comes to MS Dhoni, you never know. First, it was 2015, then 2019 and now 2024. He is almost like Dhoni and surprises go hand in hand as he pulled another one out of the bag when he decided to step down as captain of Chennai Super Kings. On the eve of the start of the 17th edition of the IPL, Dhoni and CSK dropped a mega bomb announcing Ruturaj Gaikwad as their new skipper, and although the writing was on the wall, when it came out, it hit quite hard and marked the end of an era

At least that’s how it was in the CSK camp. Coach Stephen Fleming revealed that the decision was entirely Dhoni’s, but it left a lot of boys excited. That being said, the team is very happy with Gaikwad’s new stint as captain and is looking forward to the start of a new and hopefully promising chapter.

“(When Dhoni broke the news) there were a lot of emotions. A lot of tears. There wasn’t a dry eye in the locker room. Everyone was moved. Last time (when CSK changed the captain) we were not so prepared for MS to move and for a leadership change,” Fleming said.

“There was also a round of congratulations to Ruturaj. He is not the most vocal person, but he has qualities to guide us in the right direction.”

This is not the first time CSK has dropped Dhoni as captain. At least I tried. In 2022, they pulled off a similar surprise when they handed the reins to Ravindra Jadeja, but had to reverse the decision after CSK started the season poorly. And although it was too late to do damage control by then, Dhoni led them to the title the following year. Fleming admits that two years ago, CSK were not ready for the transition, but this time they are in a pretty good position regarding Gaikwad.

“Well, the biggest thing a couple of years ago was that we probably weren’t prepared for MS to be sidelined,” Fleming said. “And what that probably did was shake us as a leadership group or coaches into considering the possibility of him leaving. And up until that point, it was almost unthinkable, but it planted the seed. So we’ve worked pretty hard. “On making sure that any mistakes that have been made during that time will not be made again. And that leadership is not a secret.”

Dhoni first revealed his decision to resign to his CSK teammates and support staff, leaving them shocked, before heading to inform the management about the same.