MS Dhoni is a widely respected captain in India and international cricket history. Especially in the white-ball formats, his records speak for himself as he remains the only captain to have won the three ICC trophies in limited-overs cricket. However, it is no secret that Dhoni, who announced his retirement from international cricket in 2020, is in the twilight of his IPL career.
While his IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings (CSK), whom he has led to the title four times already, had named Ravindra Jadeja as the captain who would take over the captaincy baton from Dhoni last year, after the team got off to a poor start last year it was announced Dhoni would be back at the helm of affairs.
The 41-year-old continues to lead the team this year but the man cannot continue forever and this year again certain reports have suggested that this could be his final year in the T20 tournament.
And now with perhaps the team also looking at someone who can lead CSK in the post Dhoni era, former India cricketer turned commentator Deep Dasgupta reckons Ruturaj Gaikwad can be someone who can lead the franchise. He argued that the opener is someone who fits into the philosophy of the side pretty well.
"He has been playing at CSK for the last three seasons and knows the philosophies and templates of the franchise well," Dasgupta said on ESPNcricinfo's Time-Out.
"Chennai as a franchise would want their next captain to fit in their philosophy and not the other way around. And according to me, he has already fit in that philosophy," he added.
This season Gaikwad has been in sensational form so far and is currently the Orange Cap holder with 149 runs from 2 innings. He scored half-centuries in both the innings so far, hitting 92 runs against Gujarat Titans before a 57 against Lucknow Super Giants, the latter of which came in a winning cause.