Courtesy: BCCI/IPL
On Thursday, April 10, Ruturaj Gaikwad, the captain of Chennai Super Kings (CSK), got ruled out of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season due to an elbow injury. The head coach of CSK, Stephen Fleming, confirmed the news in a press conference on the eve of their upcoming home match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), and he further stated that stalwart MS Dhoni will led the franchise for the remainder of the season.
Notably, ahead of CSK’s previous IPL 2025 match versus Punjab Kings (PBKS), there were rumours around the fitness of Ruturaj Gaikwad with him getting replaced as captain by MS Dhoni, but he ended up leading the team in the contest, which they lost by 18 runs at the Maharaja Yadavindra International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur. A few days prior to that, the 28-year-old had also featured in a home match for CSK against DC, losing it by 25 runs.
As per the report from Cricbuzz, it was during CSK’s away match against Rajasthan Royals (RR) when Ruturaj Gaikwad had suffered an issue with his elbow after getting hit by a delivery from Tushar Deshpande at the Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati. The two aforementioned matches which the Indian player took part in after sustaining a blow to his elbow might have aggravated the extent of his injury since the recent scans revealed a fracture.
CSK have won only one out of first five matches in IPL 2025
The injury to Ruturaj Gaikwad has come at a time when CSK have lost four of their first five matches in the IPL 2025, desperately needing their captain to stand up in the coming matches of the tournament. In three out of the last four seasons, including their IPL title victory in 2023, Ruturaj Gaikwad was the top-scorer for CSK in the league, making a big name for himself in the process, and getting picked in the Indian cricket team.
With Ruturaj Gaikwad’s sudden departure from the team, MS Dhoni, who has led CSK to five IPL titles in his illustrious tenure, will be captaining the side once again.
