Despite delivering the worst season in their history last year, Chennai Super Kings have decided to keep their faith in Ruturaj Gaikwad’s leadership.
Just as the speculation was starting to heat up, Chennai Super Kings ended all the debate. The franchise has confirmed that newly signed star Sanju Samson will not be leading the side. Even after a nightmare campaign, Ruturaj Gaikwad remains the captain of one of the IPL’s most successful teams.
After releasing the list of retained and released players during the trade window, the franchise also made its captaincy decision public. Although Ruturaj’s performances haven’t been particularly impressive, the team is still backing him to lead.
Chennai’s captaincy changed ahead of the 2024 season, right after their 2023 IPL title triumph. The legendary Mahendra Singh Dhoni stepped down, handing the reins to Ruturaj. Chennai finished fifth that season. But last year, things went horribly wrong—they won just 4 out of 14 matches and ended the tournament at the very bottom of the 10-team table. For the first time ever, the five-time champions and four-time runners-up finished last.
Ruturaj himself missed most of the season due to injury, managing to play only five matches.
This year, Chennai stirred up the trade window by sending Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran to Rajasthan Royals, bringing in Sanju Samson for a massive ₹18 crore. With Samson’s extensive leadership experience at Rajasthan, it sparked talk that he might be handed the captaincy at CSK.
But the franchise—known for sticking with its trusted players—once again chose the familiar path. Ruturaj, who has played his entire IPL career for Chennai, continues as captain. The 28-year-old batter will enter his seventh IPL season in 2026, still wearing yellow.
