MS Dhoni Steps Down As CSK Skipper, Gaikwad To Lead!

MS Dhoni gave an unpredictable shock to his fans ahead of the IPL 2024. He stepped down as the captain for the five-time IPL champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK). The legendary captain handed over the reigns to young opener Ruturaj Gikwad.

CSK announced the same on their official social media handles. The decision marks the end of Dhoni’s long reign as the CSK skipper. He led the team to five IPL titles during his tenure. CSK announced that MS Dhoni handed over Chennai Super Kings’ captaincy to batter Ruturaj Gaikwad.

Coming ahead of the start of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. This news sent the CSK fan base into a frenzy. But, some fans are praising the decision to give CSK reigns to Ruturaj, as he has been an integral part of team since 2019 and played 52 matches for the franchise.

Ruturaj was also the skipper for the young Indian team, which one gold medal in Asian games 2023. As for MS Dhoni, he led the CSK in 212 IPL matches, winning 128 matches and losing 82. Dhoni retired from international cricket on August 15, 2020. He led Team India to glory in the 2007 T20 World Cup, 2011 ODI World Cup and the 2013 Champions Trophy.

Dhoni led the Chennai franchise to a record-equaling fifth IPL title last year. The 42-year-old captained Chennai since the inaugural IPL season in 2008. He failed to lead CSK in only two seasons when the franchise was suspended due to fixing charges.

Dhoni handed over the captaincy mantle to star-all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja at the start of the 2022 season. But returned to the helm after just eight matches into the season as the franchise suffered consecutive losses.

CSK squad for IPL 2024: Ruturaj Gaikwad (C), MS Dhoni (WK), Moeen Ali, Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Shivam Dube, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Ravindra Jadeja, Ajay Mandal, Mukesh Choudhary, 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.