IPL 2024 is all set to commence a charming opening ceremony this Friday (March 22). The new season is expected to have a lot of changes such as Hardik Pandya returning to Mumbai Indians and replacing Rohit Sharma as the captain. The breaking news is that MS Dhoni, the Chennai Super Kings skipper, has stepped down from the captaincy.

IPL official posted a picture of all team captains posing with the trophy, in which Ruturaj Gaikwad was in MS Dhoni's place as the captain of the men in yellow. This came as a shock to the fans following which the CSK team issued an official statement saying that MS Dhoni has handed over the captaincy to the star batter of the franchise currently.

Ruturaj Gaikwad debuted as the opener for CSK in 2020 when the team was in a downfall. From there on, he played many heroic knocks and contributed generously to the franchise's 2021 and 2023 title wins. As he is a youngster with a promising future, Thala Dhoni has decided to pass the baton to him. MSD will groom him as a leader while functioning as a CSK player this year.

It is worth mentioning that MS Dhoni tried handing over the captaincy to the all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja in 2022. MSD became the skipper again as Jaddu couldn't handle it for more than 7 matches. The franchise has now decided to go with Ruturaj despite Jadeja hitting the winning shot in the IPL 2023 Finals. Also, sources tell us that Dhoni will retire after this IPL season.

OFFICIAL STATEMENT: MS Dhoni hands over captaincy to Ruturaj Gaikwad. #WhistlePodu #Yellove

— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) March 21, 2024

Presenting @ChennaiIPL's Captain - @Ruutu1331 🙌🙌#TATAIPL pic.twitter.com/vt77cWXyBI

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) March 21, 2024

𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞!

The #TATAIPL is here and WE are ready to ROCK & ROLL 🎉🥳🥁

Presenting the 9 captains with PBKS being represented by vice-captain Jitesh Sharma. pic.twitter.com/v3fyo95cWI

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) March 21, 2024