[ad_1]
Ruturaj Gaikwad replaced MS Dhoni as the skipper of Chennai Super Kings ahead of IPL 2024. The announcement came after Gaikwad attended the captains’ meeting ahead of this year’s competition in Chennai on Thursday. MS Dhoni has captained CSK since the inaugural season of the IPL and has won the title five times, the most for any captain along with Rohit Sharma of Mumbai Indians. Gaikwad, who played six ODIs and 19 T20s for India, made his CSK debut in 2020 and represented the five-time IPL champions in 52 games. The right-hand opener had a memorable run last year, amassing 590 runs in 16 games at an impressive strike rate of 147.50.
“MS Dhoni has handed over the captaincy of Chennai Super Kings to Ruturaj Gaikwad ahead of the start of TATA IPL 2024. Ruturaj has been an integral part of Chennai Super Kings since 2019 and has played 52 matches in IPL during this period,” CSK said in a statement on its website.
“The team is looking forward to next season,” the statement added.
Dhoni has had one of the most inspiring journeys in the history of sports. From working as a ticket collector at a railway station, he transformed into India’s greatest trophy collector, leading the team to the 2007 ICC T20 World Cup, 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup and the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy as pattern.
Dhoni has led CSK to five IPL titles in 2010, 2011, 2018, 2021 and 2023. Dhoni has also led CSK to two CLT20 titles in 2010 and 2014. With this, he is not only the most successful captain in cricket franchise, but cricket in general.
The right-handed batsman has played 250 IPL matches, mostly for CSK, apart from a stint with Rising Pune Supergiant from 2016 to 2017. In these matches, he scored 5,082 runs at an average of 38.79. He has also scored 24 half-centuries in the tournament. He also has 142 receptions and 42 hits.
CSK will face Royal Challengers Bengaluru in IPL 2024 in Chennai on Friday.
CSK Squad for IPL 2024: MS Dhoni (c), Moeen Ali, Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Shivam Dube, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Ravindra Jadeja, Ajay Mandal, Mukesh Choudhary, Ajinkya Rahane, Shaik Rasheed, Mitchell Santner, Simarjeet Singh, Nishant Sindhu, Prashant Solanki , Maheesh Theekshana, Rachin Ravindra, Shardul Thakur, Daryl Mitchell, Sameer Rizvi, Mustafizur Rahman, Avanish Rao Aravelly.
(With contributions from the agency)
Topics mentioned in this article.