Captain Online Desk : Ruturaj Gaikwad CSK Captain : The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season is starting from March 22. But a day before that, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) franchise made a big announcement by replacing Mahendra Singh Dhoni with Rituraj Gaikwad as captain. The opening match of the seventeenth season of IPL will be played between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings.
The 17th season of IPL (IPL 2024) will begin with a match between defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Earlier, CSK changed the team leadership. The franchise has shown faith in young opener Rituraj Gaikwad and entrusted him with the leadership of the team. After this announcement, Gaikwad on behalf of CSK participated in the photo shoot of the captains of all the teams.
Gaikwad fourth captain of CSK
The 27-year-old Gaikwad will be CSK's fourth captain. Apart from Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja and Suresh Raina have held the captaincy earlier. Dhoni has led the Chennai team in 226 matches. Jadeja has led in 8 matches while Raina has led in 5 matches.
Even in IPL 2022, CSK announced the new captain a day before the start of IPL. At that time, Ravindra Jadeja was appointed as the captain. But in that season, under the leadership of Jaddu, the Chennai team's performance was poor. After that, Jadeja was removed and Dhoni was again given the responsibility of captaincy.
Mahi's last IPL?
The 42-year-old Dhoni retired from international cricket on 15 August 2020. But he is playing in IPL. Under his leadership, Chennai Super Kings have won the IPL title 5 times (2010, 2011, 2018, 2021, 2023).
Dhoni's IPL Career
Dhoni has played 250 matches in IPL so far. During this time he has scored 5,082 runs at an average of 38.79 and a strike rate of 135.91. His highest score is 84* not out. He has 24 fifties to his name. Dhoni is the 7th highest run-scorer in the league. He remains unbeaten in 87 innings. He has hit 349 fours and 239 sixes.
Dhoni top among successful captains!
Dhoni captained CSK from the first IPL season in 2008. He is among the most successful captains in this league. He has led his franchise in hits with 226 games. They have won 133 matches and lost 91 matches. 2 matches did not result. Under Dhoni's leadership, the team's winning percentage is 58.84.
Gaikwad's 'price' is half of Dhoni's
CSK bought Rituraj Gaikwad for Rs 20 lakh in the 2019 auction. But he didn't get a chance to make his IPL debut in the 2019 season. In the next year season i.e. 2020, MS Dhoni gave him a chance and since then he never looked back. Gaikwad also won the Orange Cap in IPL 2021 with 635 runs. He has so far scored 1797 runs in 52 matches at an average of 39.07 in IPL. He is also the captain of the Maharashtra team in domestic cricket. In such a situation, CSK is considered to have taken the right decision keeping in mind the future plans. Currently, the Chennai franchise is paying Gaikwad Rs 6 crore for one season. Dhoni is getting Rs 12 crore. Thus Gaikwad's fee in IPL is half that of Dhoni.
Dhoni's warning already
Dhoni recently shared a post on Facebook and hinted that he might now be seen in a new role in IPL 2024. This post of his had raised the heart rate of the fans. Dhoni wrote in a Facebook post that, 'Can't wait for the new season of IPL and new role. Stay tuned!'
OFFICIAL STATEMENT: MS Dhoni hands over captaincy to Ruturaj Gaikwad. #WhistlePodu #Yellowlove
— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) March 21, 2024
Presenting @ChennaiIPL's Captain – @Ruutu1331 🙌🙌#TATAIPL pic.twitter.com/vt77cWXyBI
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) March 21, 2024
