IPL 2024 has started. The first match is between Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore. During the match, everyone's eyes were on how would be the captaincy of Ruturaj Gaikwad? Will his condition be like that of Jadeja in the 2022 season? Gaikwah will not be just Dhoni's shadow. In the first match, Chennai came out to field first and whatever happened on the field gave many indications.
It is difficult to get out of Dhoni's shadow
Although Ruturaj Gaikwad is the captain of the team but Mahendra Singh Dhoni is seen as the leader on the field. Mahendra Singh Dhoni's stature has become such that it has become difficult for any new player to get out of his shadow. In such a situation, during the toss, Ruturaj said that he will not replace Dhoni. But he would look to make his mark but things looked different on the field. Be it changes in the field or making strategies, Dhoni was completely active behind the wicket. He had complete control over every moment and every aspect of the game.
Fleming was also seen talking to Dhoni
When the first strategic timeout took place during RCB's batting, coach Fleming came on the field. After which Dhoni was seen explaining to Rituraj. After which commentators also started discussing this matter. Virender Sehwag made it clear that Dhoni is captaining on the field. He also told this to Suresh Raina present in the commentary panel. However, its other aspect also continued to be discussed. Speaking on Geo Cinema during the innings break, Raina justified it. He said that Gaikwad also knows that he still has a lot to learn from Dhoni. This is their time for guidance.
What happened to Jadeja?
The reason behind discussing Dhoni's impact on Ruturaj's captaincy is the 2022 season. Since this year Rituraj has been made the captain. In this way Jadeja was made the captain. However, Jadeja could not perform anything special on the field as captain. The Chennai team had to face defeat in the first four matches of that season. Jadeja's batting also suffered a lot and he could score only 112 runs in the entire season. Even then Dhoni was fully active on the field. Even then critics had said that Jadeja could not be effective as captain because of Dhoni's interference.