“Samson has also captained 66 matches in the IPL and won 33. So he has a 50% success rate. Under him, RR performed well by reaching a final and making another playoff appearance. Of course, CSK need several other things to change, and just making Sanju the captain won’t win them the trophy. But if at all they change captains, Sanju must be strongly considered,” said Ramesh.

Former CSK batter Subramaniam Badrinath minced no words either earlier in the year. “Ruturaj Gaikwad should not lead CSK. It should be Sanju Samson who should lead them. Ruturaj the batter is too important for CSK. His batting is more important than his captaincy because, anyway, Sanju Samson is a better captain than him. Ruturaj Gaikwad is a phenomenal T20 batter and has done extraordinary things for CSK,” Badrinath told on his YouTube channel.

Gaikwad finished the season with the lowest strike-rate among all batters in the Powerplay and only amassed 337 runs in 14 matches at 28.08. Badrinath said that freeing up Gaikwad from leadership duties will elevate the Maharashtra batter back to his best as an opener.

“So once you remove him from captaincy, he’ll perform well as a batter. It won’t be a harsh decision if he is stripped of captaincy. It’s more beneficial for the player and the franchise. It’ll only do Gaikwad a world of good. This is not new only to him. Even greats like Sachin Tendulkar have been affected by captaincy. If you are someone who is intense and thinks too much, it’s hard to detach from captaincy even while batting,” added Badrinath.