NEW DELHI: The fans were all set—thunderous roars, cheers, claps, and deafening hoots echoed across the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. They had gathered in anticipation of seeing their beloved 'Thala', Mahendra Singh Dhoni, walk out for the toss on Saturday. But the excitement quickly turned to disappointment when it was Ruturaj Gaikwad, not Dhoni, who strode out alongside Delhi Capitals skipper Axar Patel.
The buzz fizzled out. The crowd, expecting a nostalgic return of Dhoni as stand-in captain, fell silent. Dhoni was widely expected to lead Chennai Super Kings against Delhi Capitals in the absence of Gaikwad, who had suffered an elbow injury during CSK’s last match against Rajasthan Royals.
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Gaikwad had taken a blow to his right forearm while charging down the pitch against Tushar Deshpande during the game in Guwahati last Sunday.
After being put into the field by Delhi Capitals, Gaikwad said at the toss: "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 we can improve day by day. We want to be proactive. Elbow is good. Conway comes in for Overton. Mukesh comes in for Tripathi."
Dhoni, fondly known as Thala by CSK fans, last captained the side in the 2023 final—guiding them to a record-equalling fifth IPL title with a memorable win over Gujarat Titans.
Also See: IPL Live Score, DC vs CSK
CSK’s IPL triumphs under Dhoni came in 2010, 2011, 2018, 2021, and 2023.
In 2022, Ravindra Jadeja was appointed captain but Dhoni was forced to re-take the reins mid-season due to a string of poor performances.
Ahead of the 2024 season, Dhoni had passed on the captaincy baton to Gaikwad.
This season, Dhoni has copped plenty of criticism especially for his place in the batting order. He batted at No. 9 in CSK's record defeat at home against Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
CSK come into the fixture against Delhi Capitals in eighth place in the IPL points table with one win out of three played. Delhi, meanwhile, are one of the two unbeaten sides this season - other being Punjab Kings - with two wins in two.
DC are looking to end a 15-year winless streak in Chennai against CSK. The last time Delhi had won at Chepauk, they were called Delhi Daredevils and had Gautam Gambhir was the skipper.
Teams:
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
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
