Meet the captain of Chennai Super Kings. No, it is not MS Dhoni!

A day ahead of the first match, a photo with all the captains, and a vice-captain posing with the trophy was posted on official X  handle of the Indian Premiere League.

Hyderabad: With the Tata Indian Premiere League set to begin on Friday, fans are eagerly waiting for the opening game to kick off between defending champions Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

A day ahead of the first match, a photo with all the captains, and a vice-captain posing with the trophy was posted on official X  handle of the Indian Premiere League. While Jitesh Sharma represented the Punjab Kings as vice-captain in the absence of captain Shikhar Dhawan, a massive surprise came in the form of Mahendra Singh Dhoni missing from the frame donning the yellow jersey.

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Who represented the CSK as captain for the photograph? Ruturaj Gaikwad!

In the post, the IPL’s official handle said “Presenting 9 captains with PBKS being represented by vice-captain Jitesh Sharma. (sic)” indicating that the Chennai-based team will be led by Ruturaj Gaikwad and not Mahendra Singh Dhoni who has led the team to 5 IPL title victories and two Champions League T20 titles.

𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞!

The #TATAIPL is here and WE are ready to ROCK & ROLL 🎉🥳🥁

Presenting the 9 captains with PBKS being represented by vice-captain Jitesh Sharma. pic.twitter.com/v3fyo95cWI

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) March 21, 2024

Confirming the news, Chennai Super Kings has also announced that Gaikwad will be taking over as captain from MS Dhoni.

The team made it official with a post on X that read: “OFFICIAL STATEMENT: MS Dhoni hands over captaincy to Ruturaj Gaikwad. #WhistlePodu #Yellove”

OFFICIAL STATEMENT: MS Dhoni hands over captaincy to Ruturaj Gaikwad. #WhistlePodu #Yellove

— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) March 21, 2024