Ruturaj Gaikwad's real CSK captaincy challenge starts now

As the captains gathered for the pre-IPL 2024 photoshoot, almost everyone was surprised to see Ruturaj Gaikwad, pristinely clad in yellow, turn up. There had been no prior intimation, and MS Dhoni had led the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to the title just nine months ago.

But it quickly became clear that Gaikwad was there as CSK captain, and that he was entrusted with possibly the toughest gig in cricket – replacing Dhoni as the skipper of a franchise that is what it is because of the veteran.

One thing working in Gaikwad’s favor was that he, in many ways, resembled Dhoni, staying calm and composed, and rarely losing it on the field. It was, thus, not expected to be much of a culture shock. When CSK won their first two matches (and quite convincingly at that), the transition seemed seamless too.

But that is the thing with sport (and life). Whenever things seem in order, something is bound to break. When everything seems right, something has to go wrong. And those who look at these as opportunities, rather than dampeners, eventually carve a niche for themselves.

So, here Gaikwad is. Smarting after two successive losses, and with CSK in unchartered territory, if you consider what happened last season when they raced out of the traps and never relented.

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Ruturaj Gaikwad has not hit his straps as a batter this season

The bigger problem, though, is that Gaikwad the batter, is not doing Gaikwad the captain, any favors. He has gotten off to one of those characteristically slow starts. No fifties in four games, and his strike rate is also a downgrade from 2023 when he seemed to have made a conscious effort to go after the bowling.

That is particularly pertinent because when Gaikwad does well, CSK do well. In 2021, he won the Orange Cap and averaged more than 45, striking at just a shade over 136. Last year, Devon Conway was CSK’s highest run-getter but the current CSK captain still reeled off 590 runs at an average of 42.14 and a strike rate of 147.50.

The corresponding numbers, although it is still early in the season, read 88 runs in four matches, at a strike rate of just 118.92. In 2022, when CSK failed to make the playoffs, his strike rate was only 126.46.

If that is because he is now captain, or due to him missing so much cricket in the build-up to the IPL, is a question that will be answered as the weeks progress. For now, he needs to rekindle his 2021 and 2023 avatars and give CSK the blend of impetus and stability they crave from their openers and their captain, in particular.

To gauge how important the openers are to the five-time champions, just look at their opening two matches. In those fixtures, Rachin Ravindra blazed away, with Gaikwad playing a more sedate role. But because they were able to put the opposition under pressure at the start, the rest of their innings was made easier.

The troubling bit for the 27-year-old is that there are problems elsewhere too. Matheesha Pathirana and Mustafizur Rahman, in the game against the Gujarat Titans, showed just how incisive they can be in tandem.

Both, however, missed the fixture against the Sunrisers Hyderabad, and Mustafizur will not be available post-April. Pathirana, too, has had recent run-ins with injuries, and how many matches he can put together, without breaking down, remains to be seen.

The batting has also huffed and puffed in consecutive encounters. Against the Delhi Capitals, they did not start well enough, and against SRH, they did not finish well enough.

There were, of course, other factors in play, but with the inexperience CSK have in their bowling attack, they can, at best, hope for their batting unit to have four or five off days. Two of them, you could argue, have happened already.

This clash against the Kolkata Knight Riders, thus, has gained enormous significance. Another defeat, and CSK will have lost three in a row, and would firmly become a feature of the mid-table logjam. Additionally, it might also make some of their fans wonder if handing captaincy over to Gaikwad was the right move – something he could do without in his debut season.

KKR, to add to it, are one of the few franchises who will not be daunted by playing at Chepauk, having won there last year, and more famously in the 2012 final. So, whichever turn this game takes, it will be tough. Both for CSK and for their four-match-old captain.

But then again, this was never going to be an easy gig. It was supposed to be the toughest Gaikwad has ever taken up. Not only did he have to replace Dhoni as captain, but he also had to create his own aura and leave his own imprint.

CSK, by no means, have lurched into crisis, nor have they become a bad team overnight. It is just that they have now lost two on the spin, Gaikwad himself is not scoring runs and with unavailability issues surrounding their two key overseas pacers, there is a bit of work to do.

Over the years, whenever CSK have found themselves in such positions, Dhoni has usually had a plan up his sleeve; quite often, even coming up with a solution through his performances.

CSK’s new captain now has to reprise it, and that will go a long way in defining how he can shape this next chapter in the franchise’s history, both with the bat and as skipper.

When he won his first two games, he might have felt it (the change in captaincy) was not a very big deal. The real challenge, however, has just begun.