Ruturaj Gaikwad's captaincy better than MS Dhoni's? Eric Simons delivers bold verdict

Chennai Super Kings coach Eric Simons has expressed his high hopes for Ruturaj Gaikwad to be a very good captain of the franchise, just like MS Dhoni.

The 5-time champions suffered a big blow to their title defense in IPL 2024 as they lost to the Royal Challengers Bengaluru last night in a virtual knockout match. Ruturaj Gaikwad himself flopped in the game as he departed for a golden duck during Chennai's unsuccessful chase of 219 runs.

With that loss, CSK crashed out of the competition with many even wondering if we saw MS Dhoni play a cricket match for the last time. MSD had returned to play IPL 2024 to fulfill the promise he had made last year after winning his 5th IPL title with the Yellow Army. He had also passed on the captaincy baton to Ruturaj Gaikwad just a day before the start of the season.

What did Eric Simons say about Ruturaj Gaikwad?

While speaking to press reporters yesterday after CSK's tragic loss, Eric Simons had high praise for Ruturaj Gaikwad's captaincy skills. Simons watched Gaikwad's development closely from his journey as a newcomer to a first-choice opening batsman and then ended up replacing MS Dhoni as the new captain of Chennai Super Kings.

Even if his first full season as captain might not have been as fruitful, Ruturaj Gaikwad definitely has a long way to go and has a lot of success to achieve. Going by the words of Eric Simons, Gaikwad doesn't need to change much in his captaincy tactics as he has all the makings to become a "tremendous" captain in the future.

Not only does he have a good understanding of the game but Ruturaj Gaikwad also contains a lot of hallmarks of MS Dhoni - the captain.

"I don’t think there’s too much that needs to be changed. Ruturaj is going to be a tremendous captain. He’s got a very good understanding of the game. He’s good a good feel for the game and he’s got a lot of the hallmarks of MS Dhoni," Eric Simons told press reporters in Bengaluru last night.

Simons reveals Gaikwad is a very calm captain

Another similarity that Eric Simons drew between Ruturaj and MS Dhoni, is the calmness that both individuals have. Simmons revealed that Gaikwad brings in a lot of stability and composure during important team meetings and the way he talks to the bowlers during tough situations is incredible.

One of Ruturaj Gaikwad's major strengths is his willingness to understand that he has to be as simple as he can with the game of cricket. "He’s understanding and be able to be simple about the game. The calmness that he brings whether it’s in a team meeting or conversation with bowlers or in the middle is incredible," Simmons concluded.

Individually, Gaikwad experienced yet another successful season, scoring 583 runs and missing out on his tally last season by just 7 runs. But nonetheless, Gaikwad scored those 583 runs at a 141.46 strike rate with an impressive average of 53. His season also included a century and 4 half-centuries with a best of 108*.