Indian skipper Rohit Sharma had nothing but respect for MS Dhoni after the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) camp confirmed a bombshell captaincy announcement on Thursday. For the second time in his trophy-laden career, Dhoni has opted to step down as CSK's captain in the build-up to the new season. On the eve of the IPL 2024 opener between CSK and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), Chennai confirmed the appointment of Indian opener Ruturaj Gaikwad as the new leader of the Yellow Brigade.

Taking to Instagram after opener Ruturaj was revealed as the new captain of the Men In Yellow, former Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper Rohit shared a heartwarming post for Dhoni. Rohit recalled MI's meeting CSK in the IPL while congratulating Dhoni on his incredible captaincy journey. While Gaikwad has succeeded Dhoni at CSK, ex-skipper Rohit was replaced by Hardik Pandya as Mumbai Indians’ captain for the new season. Mumbai and Chennai have always produced thrilling encounters in the world's richest T20 league.

Did you know?

Mumbai's meeting with Chennai is also known as the El Clásico of the IPL. With Rohit and Dhoni at the helm, MI and CSK have emerged as two of the most successful teams in IPL's rich history. With five titles each as skippers, Rohit and Dhoni are the joint most successful captains in the IPL. For the first time in the IPL, neither of the former MI and CSK skippers will grace the pitch for the traditional toss.

What CSK said about Dhoni's decision

Record-time winners CSK issued a brief statement to confirm the leadership change at Chepauk. "MS Dhoni has handed over Chennai Super Kings' captaincy to Ruturaj Gaikwad ahead of the start of TATA IPL 2024. Ruturaj has been an integral part of Chennai Super Kings since 2019 and has played 52 matches in IPL during this period. The team looks forward to the upcoming season," CSK said in a statement. Earlier, CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan revealed that Dhoni informed the franchise about the captaincy decision before the skippers' meeting in Chennai.

Read Also: what ruturaj gaikwad has done as skipper to land captaincy role at csk for ipl 2024