Injured Ruturaj Gaikwad Ends Silence After MS Dhoni Replaces Him As CSK Captain

Five-time champions Chennai Super have released Ruturaj Gaikwad‘s statement on social media after the player got ruled out of Indian Premier League 2025. Notably, Gaikwad will miss the remainder of the season due to an elbow injury that he had suffered on March 30. While he played a couple of games despite that injury, it eventually forced him out of the tournament. As Gaikwad was the captain of CSK, his absence meant somebody had to take over the captaincy duties and the team went ahead with veteran skipper MS Dhoni, who led the franchise to record-equalling five titles.

Late Thursday, CSK uploaded a video of Gaikwad on social media in which he expressed his disappointment for missing out the season. He added that he hopes things change under the leadership of Dhoni.

“Hello everyone, Ruturaj this side. Really gutted to be missing future part of the IPL due to an unfortunate elbow injury. But, thank you for your support until now. Yes, we have been struggling a while, you know now that a young wicketkeeper leading the team, hopefully, things will change. I am gonna be there with the team, really support them,” Ruturaj said.

“Definitely would have loved to take this team out of this situation, but you know some things are not controllable. As I said, definitely looking forward to support the team from the dug-out and hopefully, we have a great season ahead. Thank you,” he added.

A beleaguered Chennai Super Kings will have their task cut out against Kolkata Knight Riders after losing regular skipper Gaikwad to injury, as they look to break a frustrating run of defeats in IPL 2025 on Friday.

CSK will hope Dhoni’s return at the helm brings them luck as the five-time winners try to overcome a string of defeats.

Heading into the critical game, in which a loss could spell more trouble for CSK, the home team is taking some solace from the batters’ impressive show in the last match against Punjab Kings, which they lost by 18 runs after being set a stiff target of 219 in Mullanpur.

CSK are now hoping for a change in fortune at Chepauk, which has so far this season not afforded them the advantage it has been know to give in the past, something that has also forced longtime coach Stephen Fleming to express his frustration after a massive loss against Royal Challengers Bengaluru some days back.

(With PTI Inputs)

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