The Chennai Super Kings made a significant announcement that shocked the cricket community: star batter Rurutaj Gaikwad will captain the team instead of regular captain Thala MS Dhoni in the 17th edition of the Indian Premier League.
On social media, the news was warmly welcomed by supporters, in contrast to star all-arounder Hardik Pandya, who faced harsh criticism from the same audience upon being named the new captain of the Mumbai Indians, taking Rohit Sharma’s place.
Notably, Ruturaj Gaikwad has participated in 52 IPL games thus far in his career, amassing 1797 runs at an average of 39.07. In the IPL, he has amassed 14 half-centuries and smashed a century, with a career-high 101* runs. The fans are eager to see how the young player leads one of the most successful teams in the tournament’s history because the right-handed hitter has occasionally displayed extraordinary skill with the bat.
Thala MS Dhoni steps down:
Regarding the Chennai Super Kings, they performed incredibly well in the 16th IPL season. In the tournament’s final match, MS Dhoni-led CSK defeated Gujarat Titans and went on to win the championship in 2023.
After defeating Gujarat in the qualifier, Chennai won the tournament and went on to become the first team to make it to the final. Additionally, the team doubled it up by triumphing over the Hardik Pandya-led team in the championship game.
In the first game of the 2024 Indian Premier League, Chennai Super Kings will face Royal Challengers Bangalore to start their campaign. On March 22, both teams will play at Chennai’s MA Chidambaram Stadium.
Dhoni has guided CSK to six IPL championships and two Champions League titles overall, winning 235 of 249 games under his captaincy. On the captaincy leaderboard, Dhoni is far ahead of Rohit Sharma (158) having captained CSK for 226 IPL games in total. Gauging the shoes Gaikwad will be wearing can be done by looking at Dhoni’s IPL win-loss ratio of 1.461, which is only exceeded by Steven Smith (1.470) and Hardik Pandya (2.444) among captains who have commanded teams in 20 or more games.
Check out the netizen’s heartbreaking reactions below.
So, this was all about the Thala MS Dhoni. Also read, Surge in Smriti Mandhana brand value after WPL 2024 win
