MS Dhoni's decision to step down from the captaincy role at the Chennai Super Kings on the eve of the start of the 2024 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) left veteran cricketer divided as Sachin Tendulkar and AB de Villiers presented contrasting views on the stance. Both statements came just an hour before the kick-off to the 17th season of the tournament in Chennai where defending champions CSK will take on Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Chepauk Stadium.

In a move similar to 2022, Dhoni removed himself from captaincy, a much-speculated move among fans and experts, to name young Ruturaj Gaikwad as the captain.

Speaking to Jio Cinema before the start of CSK's match against RCB, former South Africa batter De Villiers recalled Dhoni's move in IPL 2022, when he had stepped down from captaincy to promote Ravindra Jadeja for the role, which eventually backfired with Chennai languishing to the bottom of the points table. Calling the Gaikwad move as “huge mistake” De Villiers reckoned that CSK has always been about Dhoni and his leadership.

"I think it's a huge mistake. To me, MS Dhoni is five guys in the team as captain. Will that work together? I am not sure. We will have to wait and see. I do think it's a mistake. What happened last time is similar. I feel CSK's all about MS Dhoni's leadership. And his captaincy will be a mistake," he said.

Sachin, who was part of the panel, however, recalled his prediction from 2020 as he hailed the decision to name Gaikwad as the new leader of CSK. Four years back, following a stellar batting performance from the right-handed opener in an IPL match against RCB, the former India cricketer had predicted he would go a long way forward as a batter and that Dhoni would trust him for bigger roles in the franchise.

"I saw Ruturaj some time ago and I had posted a tweet where I had said that here's one player which CSK will have for a long period because he looked calm, composed and balanced even when he's attacking those are not rash shots it's just an extension of drive which goes over mid of four or six so he's playing proper cricketing shots but being very, very effective and when those players get into form they serve you for a long time," Sachin told the broadcasters.

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