MS Dhoni will captain CSK for the remainder of IPL 2025 after Ruturaj Gaikwad was ruled out of the tournament with an elbow fracture. Head Coach Stephen Fleming confirmed the development on Thursday (April 10), the eve of the team's home game against Kolkata Knight Riders. Gaikwad, 28, sustained a blow to his elbow while facing Tushar Deshpande in CSK's March 30 clash against Rajasthan Royals. Though he featured in the next two games, against Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings, scans have now confirmed a 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. 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 said at the press conference on Thursday. Chennai has had a horrid start to their IPL 2025 campaign with the team losing 4 of the first 5 matches they have played. In the five matches in this season, Gaikwad hit two half-centuries while batting at No.3. Dhoni returning as CSK captain in the middle of a season is not happening for the first time. In  2022 when Ravindra Jadeja was removed from the leadership after CSK got off to the worst possible starts, losing almost all of their matches in the first half of the league stage.