3 Players who can replace MS Dhoni as CSK Captain in next IPL season

MS Dhoni might be the most influential captain in the history of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He was the most expensive player bought in the IPL 2008 auction and since then, he has been with the CSK franchise, barring the two seasons with Rising Pune Supergiants. He has always been the captain of the franchise as well.

In IPL 2022, CSK experimented with Dhoni stepping down as captain and Ravindra Jadeja taking over. But Jadeja’s poor captaincy and the responsibility affecting his cricket led to Dhoni taking mid-season. He then played through with a knee injury in the IPL 2023, leading CSK to a record-equaling fifth IPL title.

But as all CSK fans know, but won’t admit, MS Dhoni is 42 years old and will not be playing in IPL forever. He has acknowledged how hard it is was him to train to play in 2 months of IPL and it is expected that the IPL 2024 will be his swansong. With that comes the question of who will captain the CSK side after MS Dhoni and in this article, we explore 3 such options as the next CSK skipper.

Here are three players who can replace MS Dhoni as CSK Captain in next IPL season:

3. Ravindra Jadeja

Ravindra-Jadeja. (Photo Source: X/Twitter)

Ravindra Jadeja has been part of the CSK family since 2011. He has been a member of the IPL 2011, 2018, 2021, and 2023 winning Chennai teams. While Suresh Raina was Dhoni’s deputy till IPL 2019, Jadeja took over that open slot after Raina’s exit from the IPL. Finally in the IPL 2022, CSK handed him the reins of the franchise to see whether he could bear the pressure of captaining the side and performing his all-rounder duties.

However, Jadeja failed to do both as he was found lacking in ideas as captain and he failed to inspire the other players as well. He also couldn’t perform with the bat and the ball, and as a result, CSK ended up near the bottom of the points table. Since then, Jadeja has returned to his old form as a player and was even India’s vice-captain in certain bilateral series. Whether CSK bets on Jadeja once more, remains to be seen, but he is certainly one of the options for captaincy.  

2. Ajinkya Rahane

Ajinkya Rahane. (Photo Source: BCCI/IPL)

Ajinkya Rahane was an amazing pick in the IPL 2023 auction for CSK for just INR 50 lakhs and he responded by batting at no.3 and scoring at an extraordinary strike rate of 175+ in all the games. Ajinkya Rahane comes with a lot of experience in leadership . He was the India vice-captain under Virat Kohli and captained India to the famous 2020-21 Test series win in Australia.

Then he has been Mumbai Ranji Trophy captain for some time now and also captained the Rajasthan Royals for a long time in the IPL. The fact that Rahane is just 35 years old, means that if Chennai Super Kings (CSK) make him the captain from IPL 2025 onwards, he can easily lead the team for 2-3 seasons, batting form permitting.

1. Ruturaj Gaikwad

Ruturaj Gaikwad. (Photo Source: Twitter/CSK)

Ruturaj Gaikwad has been groomed by the Chennai Super Kings for leadership positions. Gaikwad has shown that he has the captaincy traits as well, as he led India to the gold medal win in the Asian Games 2023. He has also been vice-captain of the Indian team on occasion and is well-known for being calm and composed under pressure.

Gaikwad also opens the innings and is only 27 years of age and CSK can easily see him captaining the Chennai franchise for a long term. The IPL 2024 will give a lot of hints as to which player will replace MS Dhoni as captain of the CSK team in IPL 2025 and Ruturaj Gaikwad’s name is surely on the list of candidates shortlisted by the management.