‘We probably weren’t ready for MS to move aside’ – Stephen Fleming muses on the Chennai Super Kings’ new skipper in the run-up to the 2024 IPL

As the 17th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is ready to begin on March 22, the reigning champion Chennai Super Kings made a major announcement: their top batter will lead the team as captain in the IPL 2024, taking MS Dhoni’s place.

In the tournament’s championship match in 2023, Dhoni guided CSK to their sixth championship victory over the Gujarat Titans. The spectators will be waiting to see how the youthful player manages one of the most prominent teams in the competition, though, as Ruturaj Gaikwad takes the place of the seasoned wicketkeeper batter.

Head coach of CSK Stephen Fleming spoke out ahead of the upcoming IPL season, stating that although the team was not prepared for a captaincy change two years prior, things had changed by 2024.

According to Fleming, “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.”

We sowed the seeds for us to work pretty hard. Stephen Fleming

In addition, Stephen Fleming contemplated how they have been teaching the younger players to be prepared to assume the captaincy at CSK. Furthermore, he highlighted the speed at which the relocation was organized well in advance so that the new captain would be ready to go when he plays for the Chennai Super Kings in the next IPL season.

Also read: IPL 2024: After MS Dhoni leaves CSK’s captaincy

“We have to put in a lot of effort to ensure that the mistakes committed during that period are not repeated as a result of them. And there is no secret about the leadership; we have been working very hard to ensure that all the participants are self-sufficient and that plans are in place. Although as a management group we’ve been a little slow to look at life beyond [Dhoni], that pushed us into doing so, so this time we’re better prepared, Fleming said.