‘He makes 99% of decisions’ – MS Dhoni tells why CSK made Ruturaj Gaikwad as captain

The Chennai Super Kings, led by captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, defeated the Mumbai Indians in a thrilling opening match of the season. The young Maharashtra batsman was given the captaincy ahead of the 2024 Indian Premier League, and former captain and CSK veteran MS Dhoni also stated why the change needed to be made moving forward.

The captaincy of Ruturaj Gaikwad has been the subject of much discussion after CSK was eliminated from the IPL 2024 playoffs. While Ruturaj allowed the ‘Captain Cool’ to be his mentor, some people thought that Dhoni was making all the choices despite the change in leadership.

But the former captain of CSK has explained why he handed the keys to the 28-year-old top-order batsman. He also discussed the longer-term objectives and his achievements as a player and captain.

“You must consider the long-term strategy. Generally speaking, you may depend on the batters who are a member of your core team and perform well for you for a longer amount of time. There is always a chance of injury with bowlers, particularly fast bowlers. Ruturaj has been a member of our team for a long time. He has done us well. His disposition is excellent; he is quite serene and peaceful. Fleming and he have a great relationship. We therefore took him into consideration for leadership for those reasons,” he stated through JioHotstar.

As far as I can, I’ll attempt to avoid: MS Dhoni.

The Ranchi-born footballer continued by discussing his level of player involvement and the function he plays in managing the Chennai club and its players.

We were confident Ruturaj would be beneficial to us. I warned him nearly right away after the IPL last year, “Start mentally preparing yourself because you will lead 90% of the time next season.” I also informed him before the competition began, “Just because I give you advice doesn’t mean you have to do it.” I’ll do my best to avoid becoming involved. Many people conjectured over the season that I was making the decisions in the background. However, he was actually in charge of 99 percent of the choices. Field placements and bowling modifications were among his most crucial decisions. All I was doing was assisting him. MS Dhoni came to the conclusion that he handled the players brilliantly.