Ruturaj Gaikwad Named New Captain of Chennai Super Kings
During CSK’s IPL tenure, MS Dhoni served as captain, with the exception of a brief stint in 2022 when Ravindra Jadeja took over.
A day before the inaugural match of the 2024 Indian Premier League, which pits the reigning champion Chennai Super Kings against the visiting Royal Challengers Bengaluru at Chepauk, Ruturaj Gaikwad was named the team’s new captain. This concludes MS Dhoni’s lengthy tenure as CSK captain, which started in the inaugural season of the competition in 2008. However, he had already resigned from the role in 2022 when Ravindra Jadeja was named captain. However, Dhoni regained control of the team after Jadeja resigned after eight games, and in 2023, CSK won the trophy for a record sixth season, drawing even with the Mumbai Indians atop the title standings.
After retiring from international cricket after the 2019 World Cup, it was generally anticipated that this victory would be Dhoni’s last IPL season. However, he promised to play one more season if his body permitted it. A knee problem plagued Dhoni throughout the 2023 season, and he had surgery a few days after the championship. Earlier this month, the 42-year-old arrived in Chennai for CSK’s pre-season camp.
In total, Dhoni captained CSK in 235 of their 249 games across all competitions, helping them win five IPL titles in 2010, 2011, 2018, 2021, and 2023 in addition to two wins in the now-defunct Champions League T20. Under Dhoni’s guidance, CSK’s performance was so consistent that the team only missed the final four twice, in 2020 and 2022, and made it to the final ten times, including four times in a row from 2010 to 2013.
In addition, he led Rising Pune Supergiant for 14 games in 2016 and 2017 while CSK was suspended for two years from the IPL. He captained teams in 226 IPL games overall, placing him well above of Rohit Sharma (158) in the captaincy standings.
Gaikwad’s shoes will be big, according to Dhoni’s IPL win-loss record of 1.461, which is only exceeded by Steven Smith (1.470) and Hardik Pandya (2.444) among captains who have commanded clubs in 20 or more games.
Ever since Gaikwad, 27, concluded the 2021 IPL season—his second in the league—with a career-high 635 runs, the 27-year-old has been tabbed to succeed Dhoni. Since then, the Maharashtra batsman has developed into one of CSK’s most reliable players, and his IPL run-scoring exploits have won him a spot on the immediate fringes of India’s first-team white-ball teams. Thus far, he has participated in six One-Day Internationals and nineteen Twenty20 Internationals.
At an average of 39.06 and a strike rate of 135.52, Gaikwad has scored 1797 runs in 52 games, ranking him eighth among CSK’s top scorers. Selecting an opening partner is one of the first tasks he will be asked to tackle as captain, since Devon Conway, his usual partner, is sidelined until May due to a thumb injury.
Gaikwad has only participated in one competitive game in 2024—a Ranji Trophy encounter against Services, where he top-scored with 96 runs in Maharashtra’s opening innings—and is still recovering from a finger injury.