CHENNAI: MS Dhoni's decision to pass the
CSK captaincy
baton just a day before the start of the ongoing IPL season might have come as a surprise for many, but not for his successor
Ruturaj Gaikwad
. Ruturaj on Monday revealed that Dhoni prepared the succession plan as early as 2022 and informed him that he would lead CSK one day.
Earlier that year, Dhoni had handed over captaincy to
Ravindra Jadeja
before taking it back from him following a poor start to the season.
To avoid a repeat, Dhoni and head coach
Stephen Fleming
groomed Ruturaj for the role for two years.
"I remember 2022 was when Dhoni told me: 'Probably not next year, you might get a chance to lead after that, so be ready.' Obviously, after that, I was always ready for it (captaincy). It was not something new to me, so I was not surprised or shocked (with the news)," Ruturaj said.
"I would say that we (him and Dhoni) had only one conversation. We were practising when he came and told me all that stuff," Ruturaj added.
Ruturaj was made an active member of the leadership group last year, when Fleming did a detailed post-game review with him after every match. "Fleming and I used to discuss captaincy after every game. He asked me how I felt and what bowling changes I felt we needed to do. We also talked about the thinking behind them (decisions). After every game, we had a one-on-one conversation, so it was about building it (captaincy) up," Ruturaj said.
Ruturaj has not looked out of place since taking charge and has recorded three victories so far. Despite carrying huge expectations, the 27-yearold has been calmly working towards his goal of keeping the much-envied Super Kings culture intact.
"I just like to keep things as they are flowing. I want to keep the culture of CSK going. The success we had and the things we had been doing, I do not want to change a single bit of it. I just want to come there, take my own decisions and give as much freedom as possible (to my teammates)."
English (US) ·