NEWS
Follow UsAfter a stinging loss to cross-state rivals Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), there was a sense that this would be MS Dhoni’s last game in the yellow jersey. Throughout the season, Dhoni battled with severe pain, including a muscle tear, which severely hampered his athletic abilities between the wickets.
Despite battling pain, the 42-year-old scored 161 runs in the season, striking at 220.55, with 27 boundaries, with no real concerns over his batting form. So, will that play a role in Dhoni’s decision?
According to Chennai Super Kings’ (CSK) CEO Kasi Viswanathan, Dhoni’s availability is something he can only answer. He further noted that fans and the franchise expect him to be available for the five-time Indian Premier League (IPL) winners next year.
“I don’t know; it is a question (retirement) that only MS [Dhoni] can answer. We have always respected MS's decisions and left it to him. As all of you know, he’s always made his own decisions and announced them at the appropriate time,” Viswanathan told CSK.
“We do expect that we will get a decision when he makes it. We are very hopeful that he will be available for CSK next year; that’s the view and expectation of fans and me,” he added.
Just a day before the start of the competition, Dhoni dropped a bombshell, announcing that 27-year-old CSK opener Ruturaj Gaikwad will lead the franchise starting from the 2024 IPL season. CSK’s CEO added that the decision was collective, with inputs from their head coach, Stephen Fleming, and their then-skipper Dhoni.
“As a franchise, and the discussions with the team management from before a couple of years when Ruturaj came into the CSK and started performing well. We felt that he will be a good choice to captain the side. Both Flem [Fleming] and MS [Dhoni] had a long discussion with him, and they had plans to make him as a future captain,” Viswanathan talked about the captaincy change.
“With his performances and the way he approached the game, both of them felt that he will be a good captain for CSK. We were not disappointed; he led the side comfortably, and the seniors helped him,” he added.
In his first season as CSK’s skipper, Gaikwad ended the tournament with 583 runs, averaging a staggering 53 while still showing intent, striking at 141.2, with four 50s and a century. Viswanathan added that the franchise looks forward to his contribution in the upcoming seasons.
But at the same time, he warned the fans that there is high pressure on the young Gaikwad, who has to fill Dhoni’s shoes, which proved too big even for a seasoned campaigner like Ravindra Jadeja.
“It has not affected him [Gaikwad] or his performance; he has continued to be a very consistent performer. I think the pressure of captaincy hasn’t affected him. We look forward to his contribution to CSK in the future, and we are confident that he will be able to take that pressure. Of course, the pressure is too high because he’s following MS’s footsteps, which no one can match. MS has the confidence that Rutu has it in him to do a very good job,” he added.
“The acceptance from the crowd really helped him, if there’s pressure from the crowd, you can imagine what happened to other captains as well, you might have seen. I think CSK fans accepted what Dhoni had given to Ruturaj as a captain because he had chosen him, and the team management had chosen him,” he concluded.
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