Fans emotional as MS Dhoni hands over CSK captaincy to Ruturaj Gaikwad: 'Childhood has officially ended'

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Fans got emotional after MS Dhoni handed Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captaincy to opener Ruturaj Gaikwad. CSK confirmed the development with an official statement a day before their IPL 2024 opener against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the Chepauk in Chennai.

MS Dhoni had briefly handed over the CSK captaincy to Ravindra Jadeja in IPL 2022. However, the star all-rounder failed miserably and Dhoni had to resume in the role after CSK lost six out of the fist eight matches. They lost each of their first four matches under Jadeja.

"MS Dhoni has handed over Chennai Super Kings’ captaincy to Ruturaj Gaikwad ahead of the start of TATA IPL 2024. Ruturaj has been an integral part of Chennai Super Kings since 2019 and has played 52 matches in IPL during this period. The team looks forward to the upcoming season," CSK said in their release.

Dhoni has been the CSK captain since the inaugural edition in 2008. Under his captaincy, the Chennai-based franchise has won five titles. MS Dhoni led CSK to their record-equalling fifth title last year despite injuries to his key players. CSK have qualified for the playoffs a record 12 times under Dhoni.

Ruturaj Gaikwad, who leads Maharashtra in the domestic circuit, will only be the fourth captain to lead CSK. Suresh Raina also led CSK in six games. Gaikwad has featured in 52 IPL matches and scored 1797 runs at an average of 39.07, and a strike rate of 135.52. He made his IPL and CSK debut in 2020, and has crossed the 550-run mark in two out of four seasons.

MS Dhoni stepping down as the CSK captain came as a surprise for the fans who were eagerly waiting to watch the talismanic leader marshal his troops for one last time. Here is how they have reacted.