Is Dhoni's decision to quit the captaincy sudden or is there a long preparation behind it? Is this Dhoni's last salute to CSK fans?

MS Dhoni has once again shocked everyone. When hardly anyone would have thought, Dhoni made his move in style just 2 years back. Yes, the most successful captain of the Indian Premier League MS Dhoni has once again quit the captaincy.

CSK handed over the captaincy to Rituraj

A day before the start of the IPL 2024 season, Chennai Super Kings captain Dhoni has handed over the captaincy to young batsman Rituraj Gaekwad. Chennai Super Kings made the announcement on Thursday, March 21. Last season alone, Chennai won the title for the fifth time under Dhoni's captaincy. In such a situation, the question is, why did he suddenly leave this responsibility?

Dhoni left the captaincy in 2008

Since the inception of the IPL in 2008, Dhoni has been the captain of Chennai Super Kings for all the seasons they have participated in the IPL. Meanwhile, Dhoni announced to quit the captaincy for the first time in 2022 and handed over the responsibility of the team to Ravindra Jadeja. That too a day or two before the start of the tournament. However, the results did not go well and after 6 losses in the first 8 matches, Dhoni took charge of the team.

Why the sudden decision?

Then in the next season, Dhoni captained the team from the start and made the team champion for the fifth time and equaled Mumbai Indians. In such a situation, the fans hoped that this time Dhoni will make the team champion for the sixth time and overtake Mumbai and Rohit Sharma. Now the question in everyone's mind is why Dhoni suddenly took this decision? Is there a reason for this? Is Dhoni going to retire?

What is complete planning?

To understand this we have to look at the status of the last two seasons. Dhoni had earlier given up the captaincy in 2022 and handed over the reins to Jadeja. Since then there were speculations that this would be Dhoni's last season and Jadeja would take over the reins. Dhoni wanted to let the captaincy change process go smoothly and was there to help. But the results did not come as expected and Dhoni had to take over. Chennai were ranked ninth then and Dhoni promised that he would definitely come to play for the last time at the Chepauk Stadium in front of the Chennai fans.

Under the captaincy of Rituraj won the gold in the Asian Games

But everyone knows that Dhoni has had a special bond with the Chennai team, its fans and the city over the last 16 years and he did not want to leave the franchise in such a situation. In such a situation, he decided to take charge of the franchise for one more year and perhaps during this time he identified Rituraj Gaikwad, who was leading Maharashtra in domestic cricket, as a possible successor. Under Rituraj's captaincy, India also won the gold medal in the Asian Games.

Is this a sign of Dhoni's departure?

Apparently, Dhoni's astute eyes must have realized that Rituraj Gaikwad is ready to take over a team like Chennai, with whom he has been associated for the last 4 years and has been consistently performing well for the team for the last 3 years. Now it is certain that if Dhoni plays this season, he too will get a chance to prepare Rituraj for such a big and successful franchise.

IPL 2024 will be Dhoni's final season!

All this points to one thing that this might be Dhoni's last season. Even though Chennai managed to win last season, everyone knows how Dhoni managed that entire season. Dhoni was troubled by a knee injury throughout the season and somehow managed to finish the season. In such a situation, it is clearly seen that Dhoni does not want to play beyond this season and he wants to change the leadership of the franchise in front of his own hands so that the chariot of success continues.