MS Dhoni, the legendary captain, who has led Chennai Super Kings to four IPL titles, is on the brink of retirement from all forms of cricket. Earlier Dhoni had revealed at the end of the 2022 edition of the Indian Premier League his desire to bid adieu while playing at Chepauk. And now, since the home and away format returning, it will give him a chance to say ‘Thank You’ to his fans from his den Chepauk.
Last year, the Chennai Super Kings had experimented by passing on the baton to Ravindra Jadeja, however, his captaincy stint lasted just 8 games before Dhoni was back as the captain. Ahead of the 2024 season, Chennai Super Kings will be in the hunt for a new captain.
Meanwhile, CSK’s batting coach Mike Hussey has dropped a major hint that the opening batter Ruturaj Gaikwad could be the one to take the responsibility from MS Dhoni. He also pointed out some similarities between Ruturaj and Dhoni. Speaking to the Indian Express, Hussey said:
“He obviously watches Dhoni very closely. And the other impressive thing about him is he picks up things that other players don’t pick up that quickly. He is a self-made cricketer and obviously you need help along the way and he is quite good at picking up new things from other players,”
He added: “I’m not sure what the plans for the future at CSK, but like Dhoni, he is very calm. He is actually very calm when it comes to handling the pressure like Dhoni and he is a very good reader of the game and as I said earlier, he is very observant and I think people are drawn to him because of his nature, character and personality and they like being around him. He has got some excellent leadership qualities,”
Talking about Ruturak Gaikwad, the youngster is in some tremendous form off-lately as he registered a century in the Quater-final, semi-final, and final of the ongoing Vijay Hazare trophy and impressed one and all with his batting heroics. He slammed four hundred from five innings including a double century to finish with 660 runs at an astounding average of 220.
All thanks to his stunning performances, he was adjudged Player of the Series. After his side lost the final to Saurashtra by 5 wickets, Gaikwad said: “I’m just trying to enjoy the game and stay in the present, looking to give good starts and then convert them into big hundreds. I’m just trying to become as consistent as possible,”
