Legendary Indian wicketkeeper-batter MS Dhoni will captain Chennai Super Kings in the remaining matches of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 after Ruturaj Gaikwad was ruled out of the ongoing season on Thursday (April 10) due to an elbow fracture.
CSK head coach Stephen Fleming confirmed the big development on Thursday.
“Ruturaj Gaikwad ruled out of IPL with a fracture in his elbow. MS Dhoni to take over as captain," Fleming told media persons in Chennai on Thursday ahead of CSK’s sixth league stage match of IPL 2025 against Kolkata Knight Riders at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
According to the available information, Gaikwad sustained the blow when he was hit by a short ball from Jofra Archer during the CSK-RR IPL 2025 match played in Guwahati on March 30.
Gaikwad’s performance in IPL 2025
In the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League, Gaikwad led CSK in five matches but was only able to win one game. Under his leadership, CSK secured a four-wicket win over arch-rivals Mumbai Indians in the season’s opener played at MA Chidambaram Stadium on March 23, but after that they suffered four back-to-back defeats against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (by 50 runs), Rajasthan Royals (6 runs), Delhi Capitals (25 runs) and Punjab Kings (18 runs).
With just one win in five matches played so far, CSK sit at the No. 9 position in the IPL 2025 points table.
Ruturaj kicked off his IPL 2025 season with an attacking fifty (53 from 26 balls) against the Mumbai Indians, but in the next match against RCB, he was sent back to the pavilion for a four-ball duck by Josh Hazlewood.
In the third match he scored 63 runs from 44 balls against RR but failed to help his side win the match, and in the last two matches he got out after making 5 and 1 run.
Dhoni last captained CSK in 2023
Gaikwad’s exit from IPL 2025 means Dhoni will return as CSK captain. The 43-year-old wicketkeeper-batter is the most successful captain in IPL history. In 226 IPL matches played as captain, Dhoni has won 133.
