One of the main reasons why the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are the best franchise in the Indian Premier League (IPL) is their stability. They back players and have trust that they’ll come good for them. Players like Shivam Dube, Deepak Chahar, and Ambati Rayudu are good examples.
Dhoni & Fleming, the decision-makers
The reason they have taken this approach is due to MS Dhoni. Who was the captain in 235 of the 263 matches CSK played. Under him, changes were few. But at some point that was to change. It came momentarily in 2022 when Ravindra Jadeja was named CSK captain.
The move backfired. So CSK waited, and then in 2024, Dhoni decided it was time to move on. Ruturaj Gaikwad was named skipper then. The move wasn’t shocking. However, it has only now come out that CSK management didn’t know anything about the decision.
It was CSK captain Dhoni and head coach Stephen Fleming who decided on Gaikwad to take over the franchise.
“I think it was a decision only taken by MS (Dhoni) and Flem (Fleming), and it was announced at the last moment. The management was not aware of it, but they took the right decision,” CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan said in a recently released video.
Why Ruturaj Gaikwad was made CSK captain
Gaikwad had become CSK’s ninth-highest scorer before the IPL 2024 season. He took control of the match as the opener. Something Fleming and Dhoni liked. He was also learning from the wicketkeeper, and it was then the two decision-makers who wanted Gaikwad to become the next CSK captain.
“Flem as well as the skipper had the confidence that Rutu (Ruturaj) would be the right choice. Based on his performance, they felt that he would be a very good choice because of his qualities as a player and how he could also move with the other players in the team. And he was watching MS from close quarters, so that gave him (Gaikwad) the confidence,” he added.
