• Source:JND
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Defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have named Ruturaj Gaikwad as captain of the franchise replacing legendary MS Dhoni ahead of the clash against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 opener.

In a surprise move, Gaikwad's appointment as CSK captain was confirmed by the IPL's official X (formerly Twitter) account on Thursday.

In the customary captains' picture with the IPL trophy before the start of the tournament, Gaikwad represented CSK in place of Dhoni, who is speculated to play his final season in the cash-rich league.

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CSk said Dhoni decided to hand over the leadership role to the opening batter.

"MS Dhoni has handed over Chennai Super Kings’ captaincy to Ruturaj Gaikwad ahead of the start of IPL 2024," CSK said in a statement.

"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," it added.

Gaikwad has been associated with the Chennai-based franchise since the 2020 season and made his IPL debut in the same year. He has played 52 matches for CSK and smashed 1797 runs including a century and 14 half-centuries.

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In the last edition of the tournament, he accumulated 590 runs in 16 matches at an outstanding average of 42.14.

He has played six ODIs and 19 T20Is for India in the recent years.

In the leadership role, Gaikwad-led second-string Indian squad won gold in the Asian Games 2023 in Hangzhou, China.

On the other hand, Dhoni bids adieu to his captaincy stint with five titles, with the latest coming in 2023. The wicketkeeper-batter is the most successful captain in the tournament's history with the most wins to his name. In 226 IPL matches that Dhoni captained, he won 133 of them and holds a win percentage of 58.84.

On Wednesday, Dhoni's former teammate Suresh Raina pressed Gaikwad as CSK's next captain after the veteran's retirement.

"The biggest question is who’ll be their next captain? Even if Dhoni stepped away as captain, he’ll be in the dugout whether it’s as a mental toughness coach or just for his presence. But the question is, who is he going to nurture? This is a pivotal year for CSK. Who does MS have his eyes on? Ruturaj Gaikwad is a good option. This year is a very important year for CSK, more than for MS Dhoni," Raina told JioCinema on CSK.

"Because we’ll see who he is going to select as his deputy and probably say: ‘You handle this now, I’ve been looking after the team since 2008. You take care of the yellow, I will wear the jersey and sit in the dressing room’. It's important now to see how he plans for the future. He’s 42-years-old. I would love to see him play for five more years, or at least two or three more years," he added.