MS Dhoni (L) and Rohit Sharma© BCCI
It was the "end of an era" as MS Dhoni stepped down as the Chennai Super Kings captain and he was replaced by Ruturaj Gaikwad for the IPL 2024 season. The announcement came on Thursday just after the captains' meet ahead of the opening match between CSK and Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Friday. Dhoni was appointed the skipper of CSK back in the inaugural IPL season in 2008 and under his leadership, CSK won five IPL titles - the joint-most by any team in the history of the tournament along with Mumbai Indians. Following the announcement, Indian cricket team skipper Rohit Sharma took to social media to react to the news and his post has already gone viral.
Rohit, who was also replaced as the Mumbai Indians skipper ahead of the tournament, posted a picture of himself with Dhoni along with a handshake emoji. Rohit was replaced by Hardik Pandya who completed a sensational trade move to MI from Gujarat Titans ahead of the new season.
MS Dhoni "handed" over the CSK captaincy to opener Ruturaj Gaikwad on the eve of the IPL opener, a stunning decision that is bound to send speculation swirling on his playing future with the franchise.
Rohit Sharma's post on MS Dhoni stepping down as CSK captain
In a post on X, the Indian Premier League made the announcement a day before CSK take on Royal Challengers Bengaluru. The five-time champions issued a brief statement soon after.
"MS Dhoni has handed over Chennai Super Kings' captaincy 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.
There is speculation that Dhoni will retire at the end of the season and therefore the franchise felt the need for a smooth transition in the stalwart's presence as a player.
Gaikwad, who has played six ODIs and 19 T20s for India, made his CSK debut in 2020 and has gone on to represent the team in 52 games.
(With PTI inputs)
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