In a massive development surrounding the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), veteran gloveman MS Dhoni will lead the franchise in the remainder of IPL 2025 after regular captain Ruturaj Gaikwad got ruled out of the tournament with an elbow injury, head coach Stephen Fleming confirmed in a statement.

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“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,” Fleming said at the pre-game presser in Chennai on Thursday (Apr 10).

Gaikwad got ruled out ahead of the CSK's next home game against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in a big blow to the team, which endured a poor start to the tournament, losing four out of five contested matches. Gaikwad suffered a blow to his elbow during CSK's away clash against Rajasthan Royals in Guwahati (March 30). An almost-steep-bouncer from RR seamer Tushar Deshpande hit the CSK captain on his unprotected elbow inside the second over, injuring it; despite that, he scored a fighting 63 in a losing cause, with his side going down during the chase. 

Gaikwad featured for CSK in the next two games, scoring just five against Delhi Capitals (DC) and one against Punjab Kings (PBKS); with 122 runs and a strike rate of over 150, Gaikwad remains the highest run scorer for the franchise after five matches.

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

"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," he continued. 

Dhoni is back as CSK captain

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Having captained the Chennai Super Kings earlier from 2008 to 2024, MS Dhoni is back donning the captain's hat for the franchise for the remainder of the 18th edition. Under Dhoni's leadership, CSK has tasted immense success, winning IPL titles for the record five times and the now-defunct Champions League T20 twice.

"He [Dhoni] had no hesitation to step up and help guide us out of this if we can," Fleming said. "So that was never a doubt. We'll look at replacements. We've got some good players in the squad that have been with us a while, so we'll look from within first. But yeah, there is an opportunity to see how we can enhance the squad probably moving forward into subsequent years."

Meanwhile, with just two points from five matches, CSK sits in the ninth position on the points table, with last year's runners-up SunRisers Hyderabad tenth. 

(With inputs from agencies)