There was a buzz in the air for the last 24 hours that MS Dhoni could possibly lead Chennai Super Kings once again for the Indian Premier League 2025 match against Delhi Capitals in front of their home crowd at MA Chidambaram Stadium. This was because CSK batting coach Michael Hussey had indicated that there was a doubt over regular CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, who was nursing an injury. But the hopes of CSK faithful and Indian cricket fans to watch Dhoni captaining CSK once again were dashed when Gaikwad came out to captain CSK after all for the toss against DC.
Gaikwad’s participation in the DC game had looked doubtful after the top-order batter was hit on the hands by a delivery from Tushar Deshpande during the match against Rajasthan Royals. “We’re hoping he’s (Ruturaj) going to try and have a bat today for training. And, yeah, it’s still a little bit sore, but it’s improving every day. So, we’re very hopeful, very confident that he’ll be fine for tomorrow (Saturday),” Hussey said on the eve of the game.
So when was the last time that Dhoni — who has led CSK to five IPL titles along with two Champions League titles — had captained CSK? And what had happened in that game?
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The 43-year-old last led Chennai in 2023 and took his team to a record-equalling fifth IPL title. In the iconic IPL 2023 final, Dhoni-led CSK beat Hardik Pandya’s Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad in the title clash which was played over two days (due to rain interruption). CSK not only won their fifth IPL title, but they also denied GT their second championship on the bounce. Earlier, Gujarat had emerged as the champion of IPL 2022, in their debut season, after beating Rajasthan Royals in the final.
Dhoni is the most successful captain in IPL history, with a win percentage of 58.84 after leading CSK in over 220 matches. Only Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja and Gaikwad have captained CSK apart from Dhoni.
LISTEN: On this week’s Game Time Podcast, we talk about Chennai’s Dhoni obsession
If Dhoni had led CSK today, he would have extended his own record of being the oldest captain to captain a side in the IPL.
CSK sit eighth in the points table with two points in three matches. They started on a positive note, beating arch-rivals Mumbai Indians by four wickets but lost to Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Rajasthan Royals in the next two games.
