Hyderabad: Ruturaj Gaikwad was on Thursday appointed as the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain replacing charismatic Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
The million-dollar question is will Ruturaj, who hails from Pune and represents Maharashtra in the domestic, be able to fill the shoes of Dhoni, who led CSK to five PL titles.
Dhoni had been leading the CSK since the inception of the IPL in 2008 and only once Ravindra Jadeja replaced him as a skipper for a very brief time.
Gaikwad, who has played six ODIs and 19 T20s for India, made his CSK debut in 2020 and has gone on to represent the five-time IPL champions in 52 games. The stylish opener had a memorable run last year, aggregating 590 runs in 16 games at an impressive strike rate of 147.50.
Ruturaj has had the experience of being a captain in the past. He led the Indian team in the Hangzhou Asian Games, where the Indian team won the gold medal. Ruturaj has also led Maharashtra in the past and also led a team in the Maharashtra Premier League.
Ruturaj's childhood coach Sandeep Chavan believes that Ruturaj has all the qualities to become a successful captain though replacing MSD will be a difficult task.
"He (Ruturaj) had leadership qualities since the beginning. When he started playing at the U-19 level, he was a good observer of the game, even at the club level. His complete focus on the match and he pointed out small-small things," Sandeep Chavan told ETV Bharat over the phone minutes after the development.
"He can make a good captain. A captain has a different blood group, a captain has a different knack and he definitely has all those traits. To replace MSD is a difficult thing but he will do good," added Chavan.
Ruturaj's other childhood coach Mohan Jadhav told ETV Bharat that his past experience of being a leader will help Ruturaj.
Leading a domestic side is different and leading an IPL team is altogether different, while it will be indeed a challenging task for the 27-year-old elegant right-handed batter, however, he has MSD to support him.
Will captaincy pressure affect Ruturaj's batting, only time will tell. Clearly, the CSK is looking for a smooth transition and this is perhaps a step in that direction.
