How Ruturaj became Thala's successor and Chennai's man for the seasons

IT WAS SOMETIME on Thursday morning that MS Dhoni, in his typical style, broke the news to the Chennai Super Kings management after shocking his teammates and support staff over the breakfast table.

- VENKATA KRISHNA B

Post that meeting, Dhoni is understood to have dialled the franchise management, informing of his decision to hand over the captaincy to Ruturaj Gaikwad, a player CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan said was being groomed for the role for the last two years.

Though the decision came out of the blue, the franchise seems to be far better placed to handle the transition, unlike in 2022 when Ravindra Jadeja took over the reins before stepping aside midway through the IPL. Back then, the franchise seemed to have been taken aback by Dhoni's decision, but this time head coach Stephen Fleming said they were far better placed.

"Well, the big thing about a couple of years ago was that we probably weren't ready for MS to move aside. What that did was probably shake us up as a leadership group and make the coaches look at the possibility when he does go. Up until that stage, it was almost unthinkable, but it sowed the seed. So, we've worked pretty hard on making sure that any mistakes that were made then aren't made again," Fleming said.