Dhoni Era ends, Ruturaj Gaikwad Chennai's new captain

Chennai Super Kings have announced Ruturaj Gaikwad as the new captain. Tomorrow, defending champions Chennai will face Royal Challengers Bangalore. With the responsibility of captaincy now passed to Gaikwad, the tenure of Mahendra Singh Dhoni has come to an end. Dhoni relinquished the captaincy after leading since 2008.

Before Dhoni, in 2022, Ravindra Jadeja led for a while, captaining in 8 matches. However, the reins were handed back to Dhoni. From there, Chennai, under Dhoni's captaincy, went on to win the title in the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL).

Dhoni retired from international cricket in 2019. There were some doubts about his participation in this year's IPL. Despite his own desires, the former Indian captain has had to contend with injuries. At the beginning of this month, Dhoni joined the camp in Chennai.

In all competitions, Dhoni has led Chennai in 235 out of 249 matches. During Dhoni's tenure, the team has made steady progress in the IPL and has won the trophy. He has won the Champions League T20 title twice and the IPL title five times, a legacy that Dhoni holds dearly.

Chennai was banned from the IPL in 2016 and 2017. At that time, Rising Pune Supergiant emerged, leading in 14 matches. Dhoni has captained in a total of 226 IPL matches.

Gaikwad is a consistent performer for Chennai. He has played 6 ODIs and 19 T20I matches for India. For Chennai, he has scored 1,797 runs in 52 matches at an average of 39.06, placing him among the top run-scorers for the team.

Gaikwad has recently returned from injury. In 2024, he has only played one competitive match. In that Ranji Trophy match, he scored an innings of 96 runs for Maharashtra.