Former India and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) cricketer Robin Uthappa believes that MS Dhoni can step aside from the franchise with them already going through a lengthy transition period. He pointed out how leadership duties have shifted almost every year at CSK ever since Dhoni got the captaincy back from Ravindra Jadeja.
“I don’t think his role changes dramatically because this transition has been ongoing for a while. Ever since the captaincy returned to him from Ravindra Jadeja, you could see responsibility shifting year after year. Each season, more of it has moved towards Ruturaj Gaikwad. When you look at this squad now, it genuinely feels like the right time for Dhoni to step away," Uthappa said on JioHotstar.
The franchise had expressed faith in Ruturaj Gaikwad to become their next long-term leader, but the team failed to make the playoffs under him in the first season. Gaikwad was then ruled out of IPL 2025 mid-way through the tournament due to an elbow fracture and this massively affected the team as they finished at the bottom of the points table for the first time in history.
A shift in succession at CSK
Though Dhoni has been a pivotal figure in CSK for the past 18 seasons, it is clear that the franchise is now looking beyond him. They once again made this point clear by bringing in Sanju Samson via trade ahead of the auction. With Dhoni expected to retire in the coming seasons, Samson will most likely be the one to take over the wicketkeeping duties.
CSK's massive investment on youngsters
Meanwhile, CSK invested heavily on uncapped youngsters during the IPL 2026 mini-auction. They went all in on Prashant Veer and Kartik Sharma and splurged INR 14.2 crores each. Prashant seems to be the proper replacement for Ravindra Jadeja as he too is an all-rounder who is a left-arm spinner and a left-arm batter. On the other hand, Kartik is an exciting wicketkeeper-batter, who was on the radar of multiple IPL franchises. It remains to be seen if these signings will be able to deliver in the tournament or not.
CSK's squad for IPL 2026: Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Ayush Mhatre, MS Dhoni, Sanju Samson, Dewald Brevis, Urvil Patel, Shivam Dube, Jamie Overton, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Noor Ahmad, Khaleel Ahmed, Anshul Kamboj, Gurjapneet Singh, Shreyas Gopal, Mukesh Choudhary, Nathan Ellis, Akeal Hosein, Prashant Veer, Kartik Sharma, Matthew Short, Aman Khan, Sarfaraz Khan, Matt Henry, Rahul Chahar, Zak Foulkes.