Better prepared this time than we were two years ago – Stephen Fleming on captaincy switch

Chennai Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming has said that they are better prepared this time than they were two years ago for the captaincy switch. On the eve of the opening game of the season, Dhoni decided to relinquish the captaincy duties and gave the baton to Ruturaj Gaikwad.

Meanwhile, Dhoni had handed over the captaincy to all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja in IPL 2022 but the latter could not deliver as a leader.

Dhoni led CSK to five titles and also led the franchise to glory in the previous season. The veteran has led the franchise with great success since the inception of the IPL and thus Ruturaj Gaikwad will have huge shoes to fill. CSK won 128 matches out of the 212 in which Dhoni led with 82 losses and two no results.

Gaikwad has led Maharashtra in the domestic circuit and also led India to gold in the Asian Games.

“The big thing about a couple of years ago was that we probably weren’t ready for MS [Dhoni] to move aside and what that did was probably shake us as a leadership group or coaches into looking at the possibility of when he does go and up until that stage that was almost unthinkable,” Fleming said, on the eve of the 2024 season.

“It sowed the seeds for us to work pretty hard on making sure that any mistakes that were [made] during that time aren’t made again. And that the leadership isn’t a secret, we’ve been working really hard on making sure that plans are in place and all the players are self-sufficient. We’re more prepared now because that jolted us into looking at life after [Dhoni] and in some ways we’ve been a bit slow in doing that as a management group so we’re well prepared this time,” he added.

The former New Zealand captain added that it was Dhoni’s decision to hand over the captaincy onus to Gaikwad.

“It was MS [the call to give up captaincy] with a lot of consideration and one view to the future on the back of a good season last year. The timing was good. Behind the scenes, Ruturaj and others have been on a captaincy grooming process, looking forward to days like this if an opportunity comes up. MS is the best judge and he felt the time was right,” Fleming said.

On the other hand, Jadeja had helped CSK in lifting their fifth IPL title in the previous season as he scored 10 runs off the last two balls against Mohit Sharma in the final. Fleming revealed Jadeja will be there to help Ruturaj Gaikwad.

“He [Jadeja] is right beside Rutu, there’s no doubt about it,” Fleming said. “If you saw last year, the contribution Jadeja had… the last two balls will go down in CSK folklore. He was instrumental in us winning the cup and he’s been a strong player for us year after year, whether he’s got the stripes on his sleeve or not. He’s still a natural leader. He’s not outspoken, he’s not verbally loud or assertive but his actions in the way he plays will be a strong component of our leadership and he’ll be someone Ruturaj will use, without a doubt.”

CSK will begin their title defense against Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on Friday.