Virender Sehwag mentions India's T20 WC win under MS Dhoni to deliver verdict on 'captain' Ruturaj Gaikwad
Published - 09 Apr 2024, 05:13 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 10:29 PM
Virender Sehwag was impressed with Ruturaj Gaikwad’s captaincy in the ongoing Indian Premier League 2024 (IPL 2024). He said that Gaikwad has shown promising signs as a leader, which makes him the perfect successor to MS Dhoni as Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain.
Recently, the legendary batter shared his views on the newest captains in the ongoing IPL 2024: Shubman Gill of the Gujarat Titans and Gaikwad of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Sehwag had highlighted Gaikwad's advantage of having Dhoni's mentorship as CSK while suggesting Gill lacked support.
Now, Sehwag, praising Gaikwad’s captaincy after CSK’s 7-wicket win over KKR in their recent IPL 2024 encounter, compared the Indian batter to the legendary Dhoni. The former Indian opener stressed that a captain should be judged by both results and leadership qualities.
Virender Sehwag lauds Ruturaj Gaikwad's captaincy
Sehwag further cited Dhoni's remarkable journey, from leading an underdog Indian cricket team to a T20 World Cup triumph in 2007 to eventually becoming captain across all formats and going on to become the only captain to have won all the major ICC trophies.
However, the former Indian batter said that results will show with time but stressed that Gaikwad is the perfect man to replace Dhoni as CSK skipper as he is cool and calm like his former skipper.
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Virender Sehwag was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz: “I had predicted this long back that he would be the captain of CSK because he had shown those signs and had the abilities. You can either look at a captain based on results or whether he has leadership abilities. And he has both. See, nobody expected MS Dhoni to win the T20 World Cup.”
Sehwag added, “But after he won, the expectations became bigger and then they started thinking about making him the ODI captain as well. Same with Gaikwad, results will show with time, but he has definitely shown the signs that he is cool and calm and uses his bowlers well. He is the best player to captain CSK right now.”
Notably, Gaikwad scored an unbeaten 67 off 58 balls on the tricky pitch of the Chepauk Stadium to finish the game with 14 balls to spare, as CSK defeated KKR by 7 wickets in the 22nd game of the ongoing IPL 2024 on Monday, April 8.
I don't want to change a single bit of it: Ruturaj Gaikwad
Gaikwad said on his approach to leadership at the post-match presentation: “I don't want to be a specific kind of character. Just like to flow things as they're flowing. Keep the culture of the CSK basically going. That's what I feel. The success we've had, the things we have been doing, I don't want to change a single bit of it.
I just want to come there, take my own decisions and just give as much freedom as possible because that's what has been happening from when I joined CSK. Nothing really changes and I'm enjoying myself.”
Notably, the 27-year-old batter has so far scored 155 runs in five games so far at an average of 39 and a strike rate of over 117. CSK will next face Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Wankhede Stadium on April 14 in the ongoing cash-rich T20 league, where they are presently sitting at the fourth spot.
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