A comprehensive look at every captain of Chennai Super Kings from MS Dhoni to latest of CSK skippers, Ruturaj Gaikwad.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have been one of the strongest teams in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL). They have won 5 titles in the IPL and 2 titles in the scrapped Champions League T20, showing how dominating they have been. They became the first team to win the IPL in back-to-back seasons after emerging as the champions in the 2010 and 2011 editions of the T20 league.
In 2016 and 2017, CSK did not take part in the IPL along with the Rajasthan Royals (RR). In those two seasons, MS Dhoni played for the defunct Rising Pune Supergiant. In 2016, led the Supergiant after which he played one season under the leadership of Steve Smith.
Who is the Owner of CSK in IPL?
But in 2018, the Yellow Army made a stupendous comeback after winning the title by beating Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the final. In 2019, CSK missed out on winning the title by a whisker after losing to Rohit Sharma’s Mumbai Indians (MI) by 1 run at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.
In 2020, it happened the first time when the Super Kings failed to make their way through to the playoffs. But in 2021 and 2023, CSK won the titles again to find their feet back in the tournament.
Contents
Every captain of Chennai Super Kings
| Player | Span |
| MS Dhoni | 2008-2023 |
| Suresh Raina | 2010-2019 |
| Ravindra Jadeja | 2022 |
| Ruturaj Gaikwad | 2024 |
List of all CSK skippers
MS Dhoni
MS Dhoni started his career with the Super Kings back in 2008 and has been a crucial part of their setup since then. Even at the age of 42, the veteran has shown that he has not run out of gas by any stretch of the imagination. Recently, he scored an unbeaten 37 runs off 16 balls with 3 fours against the Delhi Capitals (DC) and showed that he still has it in him to shine at the biggest level.
Dhoni captained CSK from 2008 to 2021 before giving away the baton to Ravindra Jadeja in 2022. But midway through that season, he took back captaincy, although CSK could not advance to the playoffs. Dhoni, who retired from international cricket in 2020, had issues with his knee last season, but has shown great fitness levels to return for the 2024 season.
Dhoni captained the Super Kings in 235 and won 142 matches. During this time, CSK lost 90 matches. 1 match was tied and 2 games did not produce a result.
Suresh Raina
Suresh Raina captained the Super Kings 6 times from 2010 to 2019. He only took charge when MS Dhoni sat out to manage injury concerns. Under his leadership, CSK won 2 matches while 1 match ended in a tie. Raina retired from the IPL after the 2021 edition of the T20 league, but remains among the top run-getters.
In 205 matches for the Super Kings in the IPL, Raina scored 5528 runs at an average of 32.51 and a strike-rate of 136.73 with 1 century and 39 half-centuries to show for his efforts. Raina was a stalwart for them while batting at No.3.
Raina also became the first batter to score 5000 runs for the Super Kings in IPL matches. After hanging his boots, Raina has plied his trade as a commentator and played in various T20 leagues around the world.
Ravindra Jadeja
Ravindra Jadeja has been a valuable part of the Super Kings for quite some time now. However, when it comes to captaincy, Jadeja struggled. Despite the victory in 2021, CSK and Dhoni decided to hand the leadership to the all-rounder. However, the move did not quite work out for the team.
In their first 8 matches of IPL 2022, CSK only managed to win 2 matches and Jadeja’s credentials as a skipper was questioned big time. Not only did Jadeja struggle as a skipper, but his performance with bat and ball also took a hit. It was evident that he was under the pump to lead a team as big as the Super Kings.
Captain and ex-Captain are both active on the field 💛#IPL #IPL2024 #IPLonJioCinema #TATAIPL2024 #JioCinema #CSK #DC #CSKvsDC #DCvCSK #Yellove #RishabhPant #Pant #Dhoni #Shaw #PrithviShaw #Chahar #Jadeja #Pathirana #Yorker pic.twitter.com/ZRJdAHQo4S
— Indian Cricket FanClub (@IN_Cricks) March 31, 2024
Midway through the season, Dhoni relieved Jadeja off the mantle and took back the duties. However, the Super Kings won only 4 out of 14 games throughout the season and finished at ninth in the points table. After CSK got off to a poor start, Dhoni could not revive their campaign.
Despite not being captain, Jadeja remains an indispensable member of their setup. In 2023, he hit the winning 6 and 4 to take the Super Kings to glory in the final at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
Ruturaj Gaikwad
Ruturaj Gaikwad is the new skipper of the Super Kings in the IPL. Back in 2020, the youngster made his debut for the Chennai team and he struggled initially. But once he found his feet, there was no stopping him. In 2021, Gaikwad upped his game to the extent that he won the Orange Cap.
In 16 matches, Gaikwad racked up 635 runs at an average of 45.35 and a strike-rate of 136.26 with 1 century and 4 half-centuries to show for his efforts. He pipped Faf du Plessis, the current skipper of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), by 2 runs in the race to the Orange Cap.
After he played four seasons for the Super Kings, the CSK team management took a call to make him the skipper. A day before the start of the IPL, CSK announced Gaikwad as their new skipper after MS Dhoni gave up captaincy for the second time.
Gaikwad did not disappoint in his maiden outing as the Super Kings got the better of the Challengers on March 22 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. The youngster has huge shoes to fill bearing in mind the role Dhoni played for them.
Recently, in an interview with CSK, bowling coach Eric Simons said that Gaikwad is someone who does not get flustered easily and has the potential to go a long way in his career. Simons also said that having someone of the class of Dhoni will help Gaikwad big time.
