CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan Takes a Dig at MI After Shambolic IPL 2024, Here’s What he Said | WATCH

Chennai: In an interview posted by the Chennai Super Kings on Thursday, Kasi Viswanath, CEO of the franchise, spoke about the captaincy switch from MS Dhoni to Ruturaj Gaikwad prior to the start of the season. Without mentioning Mumbai Indians’ name, he implied how swiftly the transition happened. He also stressed how it helped the franchise to have clarity in decision-making.

“I think CSK fans accepted what MS Dhoni had given to Ruturaj as captain because he (Dhoni) had chosen him. The team management chose him as the captain. And all of you know, never has the management of CSK interfered with cricketing matters. So, that helped Rutu also, because he was very clear that the instructions had come from team management. He had the responsibility to deliver. I’m confident he will do very well in the future years, too,” Viswanathan told CSK in an YouTube video.

The beginning of the 17th edition of the Indian Premier League saw two major decisions taken by two of the big franchises of the tournament. Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings both changed their captains and had different reactions from their fans. A day prior to the start of the tournament, CSK announced on their social media that Ruturaj Gaikwad would be taking over as the captain of the yellow brigade from Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

The transition was quite smooth, as fans had welcomed the change. On the other hand, in Michigan, there was a controversy as soon as it was announced that the newly traded player from the Gujarat Titans, Hardik Pandya, would be replacing Rohit Sharma as captain. The majority of the fans did not welcome the decision, as he was booed during the initial matches at the Wankhede Stadium. It also had an impact on MI’s performance, as they finished at the bottom of the table with 4 wins in 14 matches.

The CSK CEO felt that the management’s non-interference has always helped the franchise, as it adds more responsibility to the side to deliver. He also spoke about how Ruturaj performed despite the captaincy pressure. He said, “The pressure of captaincy has not affected him. We look forward to his contribution to CSK in the future. The pressure is too high because he’s following in the footsteps of MS Dhoni. Nobody can match him, but MS had the confidence that Rutu (Gaikwad) has it in him to do a very good job. The acceptance from the crowd really helped him,  for sure. Because if there is pressure from the crowd, you can imagine what happened to other captains.”