MS Dhoni breaks silence after Ruturaj Gaikwad called CSK's 'paper captain': 'Before the tournament, I had told him...'
MS Dhoni suggested that he doesn't want to interfere much in decision-making and told Gaikwad before IPL 2024 that he would try to stay away as much as possible
Legendary Chennai Super Kings skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni opened up on his conversation with Ruturaj Gaikwad after the opening batter took over the captaincy charge from him last season. Dhoni relinquished his captaincy last season, but he revealed that he had already told Gaikwad after IPL 2023 that he would be leading the side next year. The 28-year-old had a tough start to his captaincy journey in IPL as last season Chennai failed to qualify for the playoffs and finished at the fifth spot in the league stage.
Dhoni revealed the reasons why Gaikwad was considered his successor at Chennai when he decided to step down from the role.
“Ruturaj has been part of us for quite some time. His temperament is very good, he's very calm, very composed. So those were the reasons we considered him for leadership,” Dhoni told JioHotstar.
The 43-year-old suggested that he doesn't want to interfere much in decision-making and told Gaikwad before IPL 2024 that he would try to stay away as much as possible to give him the freedom to make the big decisions.
“Before the start of the tournament, I also told him, 'If I give you advice, it doesn't mean you have to follow it. I will try to stay away as much as possible,” he added.
‘MS Dhoni ends speculations…’
However, last season, many labelled Gaikwad as the paper captain when Dhoni was seen adjusting the field from behind the stumps on several occasions.
The legendary wicketkeeper revealed that Gaikwad made 99 percent of the decisions, like bowling changes and field placements, and he was just trying to help him out by adjusting the players here and there in those places only.
“During the season, a lot of people speculated that I was making the decisions in the background. But the fact is, he was making 99 per cent of the decisions. The most important calls -- bowling changes, field placements -- were all his. I was just helping him out. He did a brilliant job of handling the players,” he added.
Meanwhile, CSK had a winning start to the 2025 campaign with a crucial win over arch-rivals Mumbai Indians at Chepauk on Sunday. The hosts put up a clinical show and outclassed Suryakumar Yadav and Co. in all three departments to collect two crucial points in their first game of the tournament.
