Rumours swirl around Dhoni’s presence in the IPL opener against RCB and there is talk around town that this may well happen as his last IPL match.
With Dhoni’s exit, the focus shifts to the wicket-keeper slot and Aravelly Avanish leads the race. Avanish has been the man behind the stumps for this position since the declaration of the final of the Under-19 World Cup 2024 that Team India reached.
The youngster has shown considerable glove-work skills but has not been quite able to contribute with the bat.
Another well-suited candidate New Zealand’s Devon Conway is injured, completely closes the door for CSK to rope him in. But, CSK could use Dhoni as an impact player and substitute him for a bowler or even Avanish in the middle overs.
But, after the unexpected has happened with Dhoni’s captaincy claim, we should be ready for what is to come. This might be a hard pill to swallow for CSK but Gaikwad is also a wicket-keeper.
As we all know, fielding is Gaikwad’s forte and the youngster has 3 stumpings in T20 innings. He has also kept for Maharashtra in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2022 .
Thus, Gaikwad might also take the gloves for the yellow brigade as there isn’t anyone to fill that gap left after Dhoni’s retirement.