Chennai Super Kings’ hopes of qualifying for the playoffs came to an end on Thursday after the MS Dhoni-led side stumbled to a five-wicket loss against Mumbai Indians at Wankhede Stadium. CSK, who batted first were bundled out for 97, and in the end, Mumbai Indians registered a comfortable victory. Since their playoffs hopes have been dashed, it would be interesting to see how CSK approach the final two league stage games and it also needs to be seen whether Dhoni will return as skipper of CSK next season.
Former India batter Virender Sehwag has said that Ruturaj Gaikwad has shown glimpses of being a good leader and he can be someone who can lead CSK going ahead.
“He captains Maharashtra. He is very quiet in his demeanor. Even if scores a 100, it will not look like from his behaviour that he has scored that many. Even if he scores zero, his mannerisms are the same. You cannot make out from his expressions that he is very happy after scoring a 100 or he is very sad after scoring 0. He is very calm, he has shown all the glimpses of being a good captain,” Sehwag said on Cricbuzz.
“He has captained in first-class cricket; he has the idea of how to control the game. Anyone can have a good season, if he plays 3-4 seasons so he can be someone who can become a long-term captain after Dhoni. I can just give my opinion but the final call is with CSK. Why everyone rates MS Dhoni very highly? He is very cool; he takes his own decisions and he has the luck factor with him. But luck favours those who take brave decisions. So, I think Ruturaj Gaikwad has all the qualities, I do not know whether he will bring the luck factor but he has all the other qualities that MS Dhoni has,” he further stated.
In the ongoing season, Gaikwad has scored 313 runs in 12 games at an average of 26.08 with his highest score being 99 against SunRisers Hyderabad.
Former India batter Ajay Jadeja also agreed with Sehwag, saying there are lack of captaincy options so Ruturaj looks the most likely choice.
“You do not have choices. If you make someone the captain after MS Dhoni, who would you go for? The only choice you have is what Viru (Virender Sehwag) said. Robin Uthappa’s time has gone, Ambati Rayudu’s time has gone, Devon Conway has just come in, Dwayne Bravo is also not going to stay there for long. If you look at spin options, you have already tried Ravindra Jadeja. You invested so much in Deepak Chahar, but his injury is such, you do not know what is going to happen with him? You never know with injuries,” said Jadeja.
Promoted
Before the start of IPL 2022, Dhoni had stepped down as CSK skipper and Jadeja was given the reins of the team. However, eight games into the season, captaincy was given back to Dhoni as Jadeja wanted to focus on his own game.
CSK are currently at the ninth position in the IPL points table with 8 points from 12 games.
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