Chennai Super Kings’ new skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad has seamlessly navigated the challenges of captaincy after taking over from Mahendra Singh Dhoni ahead of the Indian Premier League 2024, with the five-time title holders comfortably placed inside the top four in the points table following their recent victory over Kolkata Knight Riders.

Gaikwad, who led from the front against KKR, scoring a sedate half century to hunt down a meagre target of 138, said he doesn’t want to change anything just because he was handed the captaincy, while revealing how he was prepared by the man himself over the past two seasons to succeed him at the helm of the franchise.

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“Just like to flow things as they’re flowing. Keep the culture of the CSK basically going. That’s what I feel. The success we’ve had, the things we have been doing, I don’t want to change a single bit of it. I just want to come there, make my own decisions and just give as much freedom as possible because that’s what has been happening since I joined CSK. Nothing really changes and I’m enjoying myself,” Gaikwad said.

Gaikwad, who was roped in by the franchise in 2019, didn’t get any game that season and started slowly in 2020 but the team stuck by him, and gradually started getting benefitted for the faith in his abilities. In the next season, the Maharashtra batter went on to become the Orange cap holder, and his performances have helped them win two titles.

During the last two IPL seasons, Dhoni had subtly prepared him to take charge, and after every match, Gaikwad would sit down with CSK head coach Stephen Fleming and discuss what he would have done had he been in charge.

“To be honest, not really deep conversations, I feel…it was in a very chilled state. Just one conversation I would say. We were just practicing and he came and told me all this stuff. Obviously for everyone, others on the outside, they would think they are big shoes to fill but I feel I would always be myself and I would like to continue the culture that has been going,” he said.

“I remember in 2022 when he said to me, probably not next year, but after that you might get a chance to lead, so be ready for it. So obviously after that I was always ready for it. It was nothing new to me or a surprise or a shock. I know how to control the game. I know how the game progresses, which changes (to make), what to do when, as I was doing for the state team as well.

“Even last year as well, Fleming and I used to discuss captaincy after every game, about how I felt, what changes, bowling changes, what I felt we needed to do, this or that. Every game we had one-on-one conversations so that really helped,” he explained.

In IPL 2024, Gaikwad has so far scored 155 runs from five innings at a strike rate of 117.42, but there has been question marks over his scoring rate, in comparison to the openers from other IPL teams. However, the 27-year-old insisted that the added responsibility of captaincy has got nothing to do with his approach to batting.

“Sometimes there are phases where you get good balls. Sometimes there are phases where you are slightly unlucky. Sometimes there are phases where things don’t really fall in place, (a_ good shot, going into fielder’s hands. So you don’t really need to think about that. I always felt I was in good shape, starting really well, good headspace, so I wasn’t really worried.”

“And captaincy, while batting, is a totally different approach. Even when I was playing my first game, or the first fifty I scored for CSK, I think (it was a) similar kind of situation, we were chasing 140 and I always wanted to stay till the end and make sure I finish the innings pretty much the same. Nothing really changes even though I am captain or not,” he explained.