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Ruturaj Gaikwad will lead Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for the first time in IPL 2024. CSK stunned the fans last evening when they announced Gaikwad as their new skipper. The Chennai-based franchise informed the fans via social media that MS Dhoni had decided to hand over the team's reins to Gaikwad.
Two years ago, Dhoni did a similar thing when he stepped down as the captain and allowed Ravindra Jadeja to lead the Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2022. However, the experiment failed miserably as CSK were on the verge of an early elimination just halfway through the tournament.
Jadeja then handed back the team's captaincy to MS Dhoni, who led CSK to their fifth trophy in IPL 2023. Many fans expect Dhoni to retire after IPL 2024, and it seems like the former CSK captain wants the team to be ready for IPL matches without him.
Ruturaj Gaikwad led India to a gold medal win at Asian Games T20I tournament last year in China. He has the experience of captaincy, but here are three big concerns which he will have to solve as the new CSK skipper.
#1 Ruturaj Gaikwad will have to manage the seniors well
Gaikwad, 27, is not the youngest player in the CSK squad. There are many players aged more than 30, who will play for the Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2024. When Gaikwad captained India at Asian Games last year, most of the players were junior to him or new to the international level. Hence, he must have found it easier to captain the side.
However, CSK's team is full of experienced players. Quite a few players of the team have been playing in the IPL even before Gaikwad's debut. So the new captain will have to quickly get adjusted to captaining a team full of senior players.
#2 Ruturaj Gaikwad will have to ensure captaincy does not impact his personal game
In the past, several great players became their respective teams' captain after some brilliant individual performances. While some of them ended up becoming successful skippers, a few names also failed.
Current CSK all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja's form declined in a dramatic way after he became the team's captain in IPL 2022. Ruturaj Gaikwad will have to ensure that the pressure of captaincy does not have a negative impact on his personal batting performances.
#3 Ruturaj Gaikwad will have to deal with the fans' expectations from CSK
Chennai Super Kings have qualified for the playoffs in almost every IPL season that they have been a part of. IPL 2020 and 2022 were the only two tournaments, where CSK did not feature in the top 4 despite being a part of the competition.
Fans will have huge expectations from Gaikwad's CSK team in IPL 2024 as well. While MS Dhoni will be there to help him out in crunch situations, the new skipper will have to quickly learn to deal with the fans' expectations and not make frequent changes to his plans even if the team loses a game or two.
