Xtra Time Web Desk: Thursday morning. Everyone in the team is gathered together for breakfast. Suddenly, Mahendra Singh Dhoni announced, he will not lead in this year’s IPL. Along with that advice, it was suggested to make Ruturaj Gaikwad the captain of the Chennai Super Kings. Then Dhoni called and informed the management of his decision. No one had any idea what was going on in his mind.
That’s Dhoni for you. Only he knows his decisions. Be it stepping down from test captaincy or retiring from international cricket. Earlier too, Dhoni had announced stepping down from the captaincy of Chennai Super Kings in IPL. That time Ravindra Jadeja was made the captain. Just before the start of IPL, he suddenly resigned from captaincy. However, captain Jadeja couldn’t achieve success. Compelled, Dhoni had to take up the responsibility again. This time is no different.
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During the photoshoot of IPL captains on Thursday, it was seen that Dhoni was not there from Chennai, instead Ruturaj was the captain. It was a surprise. It was known that Dhoni has stepped down from leadership. The entire cricket world was astonished. The Chennai team was also aware in the morning. However, coach Stephen Fleming wasn’t surprised. He said, “Last time when Dhoni stepped down, we were truly surprised. We weren’t prepared. We were contemplating who would be the captain. But this time, that didn’t happen. We were ready for a long time. We were planning. We had started sowing the seeds of this thought right after Dhoni resigned last time. This time it didn’t come as a big blow. Last time’s mistakes weren’t repeated this time.”
Chennai team boasts many star cricketers. There are many foreign stars as well. But Ruturaj has been made the captain. Chennai prefers it that way. Ruturaj remains calm. He can keep a cool head even under pressure. In 2019, Ruturaj joined the Chennai team. This 27-year-old batter was bought by Chennai for 20 million. In 2022, he scored the most runs in IPL. Ruturaj was retained by Chennai for 60 million. He is the least expensive captain of this year’s IPL. But he is the team’s trusted captain.
When Ruturaj was joining the team to play this year’s IPL, even then he didn’t know that he would be the captain this time. Many thought that if Dhoni retired after playing this year’s IPL, Ruturaj would be made the captain. But before Dhoni retired, he wanted to groom Anuj. This IPL, Dhoni will play as a wicketkeeper-batsman. He will observe from behind the stumps how Ruturaj is leading the team.
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No one in the team knew about Dhoni’s decision to step down from leadership, not even the team’s CEO Kashi Vishwanathan. He said, “I didn’t know beforehand. I can know before the photoshoot of captains. I was talking to the coach. At that time, I came to know that Dhoni won’t lead anymore. The responsibility of taking such cricketing decisions has been left to the owner of the team, Dhoni. We believe Dhoni will take the best decision for the team. He believes that the best time to hand over the responsibility to Ruturaj is now.” Coach Fleming said, “Dhoni has made this decision thinking about the future. This decision has been taken at the right time. Ruturaj and a few others were being groomed as captains. Because such a day will come. Dhoni is the best person to take this decision. He has done what he thought was right.”
Two years ago, Ruturaj knew that after Dhoni, he would be the captain of the Chennai team. After the decision to make Jadeja captain failed, Dhoni started looking for the second person. Ruturaj was his first choice. But after buying Ben Stokes, many thought that Dhoni might hand over the leadership to Stokes. However, he preferred Ruturaj. During the 2022-23 season, when the victory trophy was being played, Maharashtra was playing their league matches in Ranchi. At that time, Ruturaj used to go to Dhoni’s house every evening. That’s when he was informed that Chennai Super Kings were considering him as the captain.
50 years ago, a singer from Maharashtra came to Chennai to win hearts. That singer was called Rajnikant by everyone. This time another singer (Ruturaj) has come to win the hearts of Chennai.