3 strong reasons Sanju Samson should replace Ruturaj Gaikwad as CSK captain

Ruturaj Gaikwad's leadership qualities are under scrutiny as the 5-time IPL winners, one of the most successful teams in IPL, have yet to look promising under his captaincy. As of now, the team is struggling to maintain a much-required momentum. In the absence of MS Dhoni, the onus is completely on the shoulders of Ruturaj Gaikwad to take the team forward.

Ahead of the IPL 2026 season, it was believed that Gaikwad's leadership skills would flourish more with Dhoni on the field. Because of a calf injury, the 44-year-old keeper-batter remains out of the ground and is yet to play his first match in the IPL 2026.

At this point, if the team management wants to think beyond Gaikwad, when the team is at the seventh position with only 2 wins in 6 matches, there is one person who can be trusted the most, Sanju Samson.

Three reasons why Sanju Samson should be the captain of the Chennai Super Kings:

Proven captaincy experience in the Indian Premier League:

Currently a CSK star, Sanju Samson is the former captain of the Rajasthan Royals for multiple seasons in the league. According to the stats, under his leadership, RR played the most matches. Samson captained the team in a total of 67 IPL games, in which the team won on 33 occasions and lost on 32 occasions, as well while one match had no result. The keeper-batter led from the front with 458 runs in the 2022 season, steering the team to their first final since 2008. Cricket legend Shane Warne is the second in the list, who guided the team in 55 games.

“In 2024, he (Sanju Samson) went past Shane Warne's record of leading the Rajasthan Royals in the most number of matches and became the most successful skipper in terms of number of wins in 2025. Samson was also the only Royals captain to have led the team into two playoffs in IPL,” according to the official website of the franchise.

Quality performance under pressure situations:

Whether it is about the duty for Team India or for the IPL team, Sanju Samson delivered multiple times in pressure situations. In his first match as captain in 2021, he scored a brilliant 119 against the Punjab Kings, becoming the first player to score a century on IPL captaincy debut. The opener already registered a century for the Chennai Super Kings in the 2026 season, which also came amid a critical moment.

Impactful leadership skills:

Samson is well known for supporting the emerging cricketers. During his tenure with the Royals, emerging players like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag (currently the Rajasthan Royals captain), and Dhruv Jurel got the room to blossom. In fact, Vaibhav Suryavanshi also witnessed the leadership of Sanju Samson.

There are multiple young stars in the CSK squad as well, like Ayush Mhatre, Dewald Brevis, Prashant Veer, Kartik Sharma, Urvil Patel, and Ramakrishna Ghosh. If Samson offers the leadership role, then the merging talents of the team could get a proven guide and mentor as well.

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