MS Dhoni's final season in IPL confirmed with Ruturaj Gaikwad's appointment as captain 

On Thursday, March 21, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) stunned the world of cricket by announcing that the legendary captain MS Dhoni will not be leading the franchise in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024.

The announcement comes just a day before the commencement of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. In the opening match of the cash-rich league, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will lock horns with Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on March 22.

The legendary skipper MS Dhoni has decided to hand over the captaincy to the star opening batsman Ruturaj Gaikwad, who undoubtedly has been the top performer of the franchise with the bat in the last few years.

Ruturaj Gaikwad brings a decent amount of captaincy experience with him as he leads the Maharashtra team in T20 and List A cricket. Also, he led India to the gold medal win in the Asian Games 2023.

“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,” the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) said in an official media release.

MS Dhoni All But Confirms His Retirement From Indian Premier League (IPL)

With the captaincy being handed to the opening batsman Gaikwad, MS Dhoni has all but confirmed that the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 would be his last season as a player in the league.

Earlier, the fans felt that Dhoni would retire from IPL after the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 season where he led his side to the fifth title by beating the Hardik Pandya-led Gujarat Titans (GT) in the final. However, Dhoni didn’t retire and decided to play for one more season for his fans.

But with the recent captaincy change at Chennai Super Kings (CSK), it is almost confirmed that the wicketkeeper-batsman will retire from the league after the IPL 2024.

MS Dhoni had captained the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) since the first season. In 2022, he decided to step down from captaincy and handed the leadership to Ravindra Jadeja. The all-rounder failed to deliver as captain and came under heavy pressure, which led to Dhoni taking over the leadership once again.

Overall, MS Dhoni has played 226 matches as captain in the Indian Premier League (IPL) out of which he has won 133 and lost 91 matches. Notably, he is the only skipper to play over 200 matches and win over 100 matches as IPL captain.

Reacting to MS Dhoni relinquishing the captaincy ahead of IPL 2024, Aakash Chopra took to his official X handle and said that even though Dhoni is not the captain of CSK, he will always remain the leader inside the dressing room. He also felt that the captaincy switch at the Chennai Super Kings happened in typical Dhoni style.

“Whoaaa…and just like that he’s not the captain anymore. Love the way Mahi operates…no fuss whatsoever. But remember…he’ll still be the Leader. Once a leader, always a leader 😇 #CSK #IPLonJioCinema,” former India National Cricket Team opener stated.

Whoaaa…and just like that he’s not the captain anymore. Love the way Mahi operates…no fuss whatsoever.
But remember…he’ll still be the Leader. Once a leader, always a leader 😇 #CSK #IPLonJioCinema

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) March 21, 2024