'The captain and the coach will decide', CSK CEO reveals owner's take on selecting Dhoni's potential successor

New Delhi, March 12 (IANS) Chennai Super Kings (CSK) CEO Kasi Viswanathan shed light on the internal discussion about choosing the potential successor of MS Dhoni in the franchise. He revealed that owner N Srinivasan said "leave it to the captain and the coach" to decide who will take the reins from captain cool.

Last year, Dhoni squashed rumours of his retirement by declaring that he would play for the Chennai Super Kings for at least one more season after leading CSK to their record-equalling fifth title while overcoming a knee injury.

After undergoing knee surgery, Dhoni put a lot of effort into his rehabilitation to get well in time to lead the five-time champions in IPL 2024, starting March 22. But the franchise will be looking to identify a future captaincy prospect, considering the talks about their skipper's future in the T20 tournament.

"See, there have been internal talks. But, Mr. Srinivasan has made it very clear. Let's not talk about captain and vice-captain appointments. Let's leave it to the coach and the captain to decide. Let them decide and convey the information to me, and then I will convey it to you all. He has said that 'the captain and the coach will decide and give us a directive, till then let's all keep quiet'," CSK CEO Viswanathan told S Badrinath in his YouTube show.

During the 2022 season, CSK handed captaincy reins to Ravindra Jadeja but the all-rounder step down from the role after a series of poor results and handed the captaincy role back to Dhoni.

As for CSK’s preparations for the upcoming season, Viswanathan indicated that the Men in Yellow are hoping for another good IPL performance.

"We have always focused on qualifying for the knockouts. That's our first aim. After that, it depends on the performance on that day. We are following that even now. Before every season, MS Dhoni tells us 'first let us concentrate on league games. We will look to qualify for the knockouts'. Yes, the pressure is there. But over the years, because of our consistency, most of the players are used to this pressure," he added

CSK will play the season opener against Royal Challengers Bangalore on March 22 at M A Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.