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MS Dhoni has handed over Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captaincy to Ruturaj Gaikwad ahead of the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL 2024) season. The announcement comes on the eve of the season opener between the Super Kings and the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Friday, March 22.
The CSK statement read:
“MS Dhoni has handed over Chennai Super Kings’ captaincy 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. The team looks forward to the upcoming season.”
MS Dhoni is one of the most successful captains in IPL history. The 42-year-old led the Chennai-based franchise to 133 wins in 226 matches at a win percentage of 58.84. He guided CSK to five IPL trophies and two Champions League T20 titles.
Dhoni will now play solely as a wicketkeeper-batter in what is rumored to be his last IPL season. As a batter, the right-hander is only second after Suresh Raina to have amassed 5,000 runs in the cash-rich league for CSK. He also holds the record for most dismissals (180 in 243 innings) in the T20 extravaganza.
Fans on X (formerly Twitter) came up with emotional reactions for MS Dhoni and congratulated Rituraj Gaikwad for the new role. One user wrote:
"Officially end of an era."
Here are a few more reactions:
As a skipper, Ruturaj Gaikwad led India to the 2023 Asia Games gold medal. As a batter, he has scored 635, 368, and 590 runs in his last three IPL seasons, respectively. Overall, the opener has 1797 runs in 52 games, including one century and 14 half-centuries.
CSK schedule and squad for IPL 2024
CSK squad: Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), MS Dhoni, Moeen Ali, Deepak Chahar, Devon Conway (ruled out for first phase), Tushar Deshpande, Shivam Dube, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Ravindra Jadeja, Ajay Mandal, Mukesh Choudhary, Matheesha Pathirana, 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.
CSK’s schedule so far:
March 22: vs RCB at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai at 8 pm IST
March 26: vs Gujarat Titans at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai at 7.30 pm IST
March 31: vs Delhi Capitals at ACA-VDCA Stadium in Vizag at 7.30 pm IST
April 5: vs Sunrisers Hyderabad at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in
Hyderabad at 7.30 pm IST
