Image Credit- BCCI
On the eve of the
opening match of the tournament in Chennai, head coach Stephen Fleming of the
Chennai Super Kings disclosed that it was MS Dhoni’s decision to give Ruturaj
Gaikwad the captaincy of the team before to IPL 2024.
“It was MS [Dhoni’s decision] with a lot of consideration and one view to
the future on the back of a good season last year,” Fleming said at his
press conference on Thursday. “The timing was good. Behind the scenes,
Ruturaj and others have been on a, say, a captaincy-grooming process, looking
forward to days like this and the opportunities come up, but MS is the best
judge and he felt the time was right.”
On the eve of the
first game of the season, CSK has surprised fans for the second time in the
previous three seasons by appointing a new captain. After Dhoni was captain in
2022, Ravindra Jadeja took over, although the change was not entirely seamless
as Jadeja resigned halfway through the season after CSK had lost six of their
opening eight games.
After regaining control, Dhoni guided CSK to their fifth IPL championship in
2023, tying the Mumbai Indians.
According to Fleming, the 2022 captaincy change served as a bit of a wake-up
call, and the team is now more equipped to work with a new leader and plan for
the future.
“Well, the big
thing about a couple of years ago was that we probably weren’t ready for MS to
move aside,” Fleming said. “And what that did was probably shake us
as a leadership group or coaches into looking at the possibility when he does
go. And up until that stage, it was almost unthinkable, but it sowed the seed.
So, we’ve worked pretty hard on making sure that any mistakes that were made
during then aren’t made again. And that the leadership isn’t a secret.”