NEW DELHI: Newly-appointed Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad started off on a bad note as he lost the toss in the IPL 2024 season opener against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in Chennai on Friday, but the confident young lad straightaway expressed his intent, stating that he is not here to fill anybody’s shoes but instead wants to try and be in his shoes.
Gaikwad took over the reins from the legendary Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who will continue to guide his successor on the field.

Also Read: How to watch IPL 2024 live in USA, Canada and MENA region

“Feel privileged. But I want to try and be in my shoes, not fill anybody’s shoes. (On captaincy) I got to know last week, but Mahi bhai hinted at it last year,” Gaikwad said at the toss.
“Everyone is experienced here, sadly we are missing Conway and Pathirana. We’ve got Rachin and Mitchell coming in though this year so they should fit in well. Looks like a good pitch, a hard surface that should hold up well for the second innings. Four overseas – Mitchell, Rachin, Fizz and Theekshana. The domestic player Sameer Rizvi is making his debut as well,” Gaikwad added.

“We’ll bat first. Looks a good wicket, conditions here are a bat first wicket. First time back here, great to see the Chennai fans again but I’m here with RCB and hopefully we can turn over a very good CSK team. Prep has been good, we need to turn up now,” said RCB skipper Faf du Plessis after winning the toss.
“(On coach Andy Flower) A seasoned campaigner, brings that experience. (On auction) Really good, our bowling resources fit well. Got more backup. Hopefully, injuries don’t bother us too much. (On team combination) Alzarri Joseph comes in tonight, got a few spinners in the middle. And since we are batting first, we’ll see how it goes,” Du Plessis added.
TEAMS:
Chennai Super Kings (Playing XI): Ruturaj Gaikwad(c), Rachin Ravindra, Ajinkya Rahane, Daryl Mitchell, Ravindra Jadeja, Sameer Rizvi, MS Dhoni(w), Deepak Chahar, Maheesh Theekshana, Mustafizur Rahman, Tushar Deshpande
CSK Subs: Shardul Thakur, Shivam Dube, Shaik Rasheed, Nishant Sindhu, Moeen Ali
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Playing XI): Faf du Plessis(c), Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Dinesh Karthik(w), Anuj Rawat, Karn Sharma, Alzarri Joseph, Mayank Dagar, Mohammed Siraj
RCB Subs: Yash Dayal, Akash, Prabhudessai, Swapnil, Vyshak