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File photo of MS Dhoni© Twitter
In an interesting development a day before the start of the IPL 2024, MS Dhoni relinquished his Chennai Super Kings captaincy and handed over the reins to Ruturaj Gaikwad. Though the decision was expected by many, it still led to an outburst of emotions among fans. The situation in the CSK dressing room wasn’t any different, with eyes getting wet as soon as the ‘Thala’ revealed that he would be stepping down as skipper ahead of the start of the season.
Tom Moody, who was the coach of the SunRisers Hyderabad when they won the IPL, had an interesting comment on the development.
“One thing that did cross my mind when I heard the news the first time is that does this mean the preparation until now hasn’t gone as planned for Dhoni, physically. Remember, at the end of the day, he is 40 and has played enormous amount of cricket and that does take a toll on your body when you are a keeper. Probably he was questioned on whether he can get through the whole tournament and this sort of gives him the flexibility without compromising the side. This could possibly be the case,” Tom Moody said on ESPNCricinfo.
Chennai Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming narrated the dressing room scenes as Dhoni broke the news.
“(When Dhoni broke the news) there were a lot of emotions. A whole lot of tears. There wasn’t a dry eye in the dressing room. Everyone was moved. Last time (when CSK changed the captain) we weren’t as prepared for MS to move and for a change in leadership,” Fleming said.
“There was also a round of congratulations to Ruturaj. He isn’t the most vocal person, but he has qualities to lead us in the right direction.”
It isn’t the first time Dhoni has stepped down as CSK skipper, having done the same two years ago when Ravindra Jadeja had taken his spot. But, that move backfired with Dhoni being reinstated as the skipper in the middle of the campaign. Fleming, however, expects a different story this time around.
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