MS Dhoni may captain CSK as Ruturaj Gaikwad uncertain for Delhi Capitals clash

CHENNAI: Ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 clash against Delhi Capitals (DC) at home, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) batting coach Michael Hussey provided an update on franchise skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad’s injury.

Gaikwad was hit on his unprotected elbow during the previous clash of the ongoing 18th edition of the cash-rich league against Rajasthan Royals at Guhawati. This incident took place when the 28-year-old player stepped out on the bowling of right-arm seamer Tushar Deshpande in the second over while chasing a target of 183 runs.

Speaking at the pre-match press conference, the former cricketer said that Gaikwad’s elbow is sore right now but he is getting better day by day.

“Yeah, we’re hoping he [Gaikwad] is going to try and have a bat today for training. And, yeah, it [elbow] is still a little bit sore, but it’s improving every day. So, we’re very hopeful that he’ll be fine for tomorrow,” Michael Hussey said as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

in the last match followed by a 5⃣0⃣

Skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad setting the platform at the halfway stage

Watch the match LIVE on @StarSportsIndia and @JioCinema #TATAIPL | #CSKvSRH | @ChennaiIPL pic.twitter.com/I7Yupi7U09

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 28, 2024

Further, the 49-year-old hinted that wicketkeeper-batter MS Dhoni is a likely option to lead the five-time champions in the game against unbeaten Delhi Capitals at the MA Chidmbaram Stadium in Chennai on Sunday.

“I don’t think we’ve actually thought about that [captaincy] too much. Well, I haven’t thought about it too much. I’m sure Stephen Fleming [CSK head coach] and Rutu have thought about that. But we’ve got some young guy coming through. He’s behind the stumps. Maybe he can do a good job. I’m not sure. He’s got a bit of experience in the role, so maybe he could do it. But I’m not exactly sure, to be honest,” the former IPL player added.

Squads:

Delhi Capitals: Jake Fraser-McGurk, Faf du Plessis, Abishek Porel, KL Rahul (wk), Tristan Stubbs, Axar Patel (c), Vipraj Nigam, Mitchell Starc, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Mukesh Kumar, Ashutosh Sharma, Karun Nair, Sameer Rizvi, Donovan Ferreira, Tripurana Vijay, Darshan Nalkande, Dushmantha Chameera, T Natarajan, Ajay Jadav Mandal, Manvanth Kumar L, Madhav Tiwari.

Chennai Super Kings Squad: Rachin Ravindra, Rahul Tripathi, Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Shivam Dube, Vijay Shankar, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (wk), Jamie Overton, Ravichandran Ashwin, Noor Ahmad, Matheesha Pathirana, Khaleel Ahmed, Mukesh Choudhary, Devon Conway, Shaik Rasheed, Sam Curran, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Shreyas Gopal, Anshul Kamboj, Nathan Ellis, Gurjapneet Singh, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Andre Siddarth C, Vansh Bedi, Deepak Hooda. (ANI)