MS Dhoni will not lead Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in their IPL 2025 match against the Delhi Capitals (DC) on Saturday as first-choice skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad has been declared fit to play the game. Gaikwad walked out for toss at the Chepauk, shattering fans’ hopes of seeing Dhoni lead CSK once again. Dhoni was expected to lead CSK if Gaikwad doesn’t recover in time from his elbow injury. Gaikwad had taken a blow on his right forearm while trying to step down the pitch off Tushar Deshpande in the second over during CSK’s defeat to Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Guwahati on Sunday.

Meanwhile, DC captain Axar Patel won the toss and opted to bat against CSK. DC are unbeaten after two matches, and made just one forced change, with Sameer Rizvi replacing Faf du Plessis.

“We are going to bat first. Feels like there’ll be help for the bowlers. Expect it to get slower as the game progresses. In our team, we have a few players who have captained other franchises and that helps me a lot. Same combination. Faf is not fit for this game, Sameer Rizvi is playing,” Axar said at the toss.

CSK, on the other hand, also made two changes, hoping to recover from back-to-back losses.

We were looking to bat as well. Looks a bit dry. It’s a bit cloudy, won’t change much. You always want momentum in T20 cricket. Overall, the chat has been positive. Fielding is something which we can improve day by day. We want to be proactive. Elbow is good. Conway comes in for Overton. Mukesh comes in from Tripathi.

Chennai Super Kings (Playing XI): Rachin Ravindra, Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad(c), Vijay Shankar, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni(w), Ravichandran Ashwin, Noor Ahmad, Mukesh Choudhary, Khaleel Ahmed, Matheesha Pathirana

Delhi Capitals (Playing XI): Jake Fraser-McGurk, KL Rahul(w), Abishek Porel, Tristan Stubbs, Sameer Rizvi, Axar Patel(c), Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Mitchell Starc, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohit Sharma