In a surprising move, Mahendra Singh Dhoni handed over the captaincy of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to opener Ruturaj Gaikwad on the eve of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 opener on Thursday.
The announcement was made by the IPL on X, a day before CSK's match against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Following the announcement, the five-time champions issued a brief statement. "MS Dhoni has passed on the captaincy of CSK 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," said CSK.
Gaikwad, who has played six ODIs and 19 T20s for India, made his CSK debut in 2020 and has represented the team in 52 games.
The 27-year-old from Pune, Maharashtra, is no stranger to captaincy, having led the Indian team to the gold medal in the Asian Games last year.
Meanwhile, Pune residents on social media celebrated having a captain from their city in the cash-rich league, despite the absence of a Pune-based franchise.
"No Pune IPL team, but a Pune-born IPL captain," wrote one user. "Pimpri-born, but on this occasion, we will consider it as part of Pune," said another.
Check out the reactions below:
