MS Dhoni back as CSK captain; Ruturaj Gaikwad ruled out of IPL 2025 due to an injury

MS Dhoni returns as the captain of Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2025 following an injury to Ruturaj Gaikwad, ruling the regular captain out for the season.

Dhoni, who captained the side from 2008-2023 and won five IPL titles, will take over at a time when CSK is struggling with four defeats in a row and a solitary win in five matches. It has been reported that Gaikwad is out due to an elbow fracture.

“He got hit in Guwahati. He’s been operating with an amount of pain. We got an X-ray, which was inconclusive, and we had an MRI, which revealed a fracture in his elbow, in the radial neck," CSK coach Stephen Fleming said.


So we’re disappointed and feel for him. We appreciate the efforts that he’s gone to in terms of trying to play, but unfortunately, he’d be out of the tournament from now. We have an uncapped player, MS Dhoni, who will take over as captain for the remainder of the IPL," Fleming added.


He said that the team has not decided upon Gaikwad's replacement yet and would look for options within the squad for now.

“As far as replacements go we have few options in the squad. We haven’t zeroed in on anyone. Dhoni was ready to take over. He understood where it was coming from,” CSK coach Stephen Fleming said.

MS Dhoni has led CSK in 226 matches over the years. He has won 133 matches and lost 91 games. with a win percentage of 58.84. The World Cup winning captain will mark his return as CSK skipper for the first time since the IPL 2023 final where they beat Gujarat Titans (GT) in the final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Gaikwad had played five matches and scored 122 runs for CSK this season. He had two half centuries with a highest score of 63 not out. MS Dhoni has scored 103 runs so far batting down the order.

The injury is a big setback for the five-time champions as they will now be without their captain and key batter in a struggling top order. Notably, Gaikwad has been CSK's top run-getter in three of the last four seasons.