Chennai Super Kings’ newly-appointed captain Ruturaj Gaikwad isn’t surprised by Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s decision to relinquish captaincy on the eve of the 17th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), saying the two-time World Cup winner had already given the feelers about a possible captaincy switch during IPL 2023 itself.

“Last year itself, Mahi bhai had hinted about captaincy at some point of time. He just hinted that, ‘be ready, it shouldn’t be a surprise to you’. When we came into the camp, he involved me in some of the match simulation,” Ruturaj said.

Prior to the season, Dhoni had shared a cryptic message on social media by hinting about a “new role”. At the time, it was believed to be a promotional campaign towards a broadcast sponsor. But on Thursday evening, it became evident that may have not been the case entirely.

“I remember him posting about a new role on social media and everybody was pointing towards me and asking me, ‘are you the next captain?’. I was like, ‘maybe it meant something else for social media’. But back of the mind, it was there. He came and said, ‘I’ve decided this and this’, but definitely now that I’m here, I’m looking forward to this,” Gaikwad said.

Gaikwad, who was first signed at base price (Rs 20 lakh) prior to the 2019 season, rose through the ranks after initially being benched throughout his debut season. He didn’t have the best of starts in IPL 2020, starting with three ducks before contracting Covid. He returned towards the back end of the season and became the first uncapped Indian to hit three back-to-back half-centuries.

Since then, he’s been an integral part of the group. In 2021, he formed a superb opening combination with Faf du Plessis as CSK went on to win their fourth title. He ended the tournament with the Orange Cap for most runs (635 in 16 games), with du Plessis finishing second on the list.

After that tournament, Gaikwad had praised the backing and encouragement he’d received from du Plessis. “I just met Faf at the (captains’) meeting and said, ‘who would’ve thought a few years down the line, you are playing and leading RCB and me sharing the stage with you at the toss’,” Gaikwad said.

For the Men-in-Yellow, this will be the second such tournament, where they will head without MS Dhoni as the captain. In 2022, Dhoni had handed over the captaincy to Ravindra Jadeja but the ploy backfired as CSK lost six of their first eight games before Dhoni took over the reins again. The CSK side finished ninth that season.

CSK head coach Stephen Fleming said that the change in guard in 2022 was bit of a wake-up call and that the franchise is now better-prepared to work under a new captain and build for the future.

“Well, the big thing about a couple of years ago was that we probably weren’t ready for MS to move aside. And what that did was probably shake us as a leadership group or coaches into looking at the possibility when he does go. And 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 during then aren’t made again. And that the leadership isn’t a secret,” Fleming said.