Chennai Super Kings suffered a massive blow on Tuesday after skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad was ruled out of IPL 2025 due to a fractured elbow.

CSK announced that former captain MS Dhoni will take over as skipper for the rest of the season, starting with the match against Kolkata Knight Riders on Friday.

Here are three players who could replace Gaikwad in the CSK lineup for the KKR game:

Rahul tripthi

Rahul Tripathi, who started the season for CSK as an opener, is the most likely replacement for Gaikwad.

However, Tripathi is not in great form with the bat, having scored just 30 runs in the first three matches before being dropped from the playing XI.

What works in Tripathi’s favour is his experience. The right-handed batter has played 98 IPL games, scoring 2,266 runs at a healthy strike rate of 139.02.

Deepak Hooda

Chennai Super Kings’ Deepak Hooda during the warm up ahead of an IPL 2025 game.
| Photo Credit:
STRINGER

CSK also has the option of bringing in Deepak Hooda.

Much like Tripathi, Hooda has had a poor start to IPL 2025, managing just seven runs from two matches.

Hooda, who was acquired by CSK for Rs 1.70 crore in the IPL 2025 auction, holds international batting pedigree, having scored a T20I hundred against Ireland in 2022.

Andre siddarth/shaik rasheed

CSK could also look to blood in one of its young Indian players, such as Andre Siddarth or Shaik Rasheed.

Siddarth had a breakthrough season in 2024-25 with Tamil Nadu in the Indian domestic circuit.

Rasheed, who has been part of the CSK set-up since 2023, is yet to make his IPL debut. The Andhra batter has been a consistent presence in the domestic scene.