CHENNAI: MS Dhoni's decision to pass the CSK captaincy baton just a day before the start of the ongoing IPL season might have come as a surprise for many, but not for his successor Ruturaj Gaikwad. Ruturaj on Monday revealed that Dhoni prepared the succession plan as early as 2022 and informed him that he would lead CSK one day.
Earlier that year, Dhoni had handed over captaincy to Ravindra Jadeja before taking it back from him following a poor start to the season. To avoid a repeat, Dhoni and head coach Stephen Fleming groomed Ruturaj for the role for two years.
"I remember 2022 was when Dhoni told me: 'Probably not next year, you might get a chance to lead after that, so be ready.' Obviously, after that, I was always ready for it (captaincy). It was not something new to me, so I was not surprised or shocked (with the news)," Ruturaj said.
"I would say that we (him and Dhoni) had only one conversation. We were practising when he came and told me all that stuff," Ruturaj added.
Ruturaj was made an active member of the leadership group last year, when Fleming did a detailed post-game review with him after every match. "Fleming and I used to discuss captaincy after every game. He asked me how I felt and what bowling changes I felt we needed to do. We also talked about the thinking behind them (decisions). After every game, we had a one-on-one conversation, so it was about building it (captaincy) up," Ruturaj said.
Ruturaj has not looked out of place since taking charge and has recorded three victories so far. Despite carrying huge expectations, the 27-yearold has been calmly working towards his goal of keeping the much-envied Super Kings culture intact.
"I just like to keep things as they are flowing. I want to keep the culture of CSK going. The success we had and the things we had been doing, I do not want to change a single bit of it. I just want to come there, take my own decisions and give as much freedom as possible (to my teammates)."
1/10:Jadeja helps Chennai Super Kings end Kolkata Knight Riders' IPL winning run
PTI
2/10:Jadeja's bowling masterclass
Ravindra Jadeja, who returned with figures of 3-18, led Chennai Super Kings' bowling charge to restrict Kolkata Knight Riders to 137/9, a total the home team overhauled with 14 balls to spare.PTI
3/10:Gaikwad's captaincy brilliance
Skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad led the chase with an unbeaten 67 and a 70-run second-wicket partnership with Daryl Mitchell, who made 25, to make Chennai bounce back from two losses.PTI
4/10:Gaikwad praises Jadeja
"Jaddu (Jadeja) always comes in after the power play with momentum in the spin department," Gaikwad said of his man of the match performer.ANI
5/10:Dube's quickfire knock
Shivam Dube hit 28 off 18 balls before departing with Chennai needing three for victory and the crowd erupted at the sight of Dhoni walking out to bat.PTI
6/10:KKR's early struggles
Kolkata had a horror start to their innings after they lost England's Phil Salt on the first ball off fast bowler Tushar Dehspande.AP
7/10:Jadeja's spin magic
Jadeja remained the hero as he struck on the first ball of his opening over and sent back the in-form Sunil Narine (27) four balls later to put KKR in trouble at 60/3 inside seven overs.PTI
8/10:Iyer's fighting knock
KKR's innings never took off with skipper Shreyas Iyer adding some respect with his 34 in 32 balls.PTI
9/10:CSK's bowling dominance
Deshpande claimed three wickets and Bangladesh left-arm quick Mustafizur Rahman took two for Chennai.ANI
