3 players who CSK can sign as Ruturaj Gaikwad’s replacement for IPL 2025 ft. Jonny Bairstow

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain Ruturaj Gaikwad will no longer be a part of IPL 2025. The franchise confirmed that their skipper has been ruled out of the mega event due to a hairline fracture of the elbow.

Although Ruturaj Gaikwad’s captaincy was below-par, he had been a consistent performer with the bat for the Super Kings over the last few seasons. This year, CSK’s batting hasn’t clicked and with Gaikwad ruled out, the Super Kings now have one of the weakest batting departments in the tournament.

However, CSK can sign a replacement for Ruturaj Gaikwad in IPL 2025. They also have one overseas spot vacant. Here are three players who CSK can sign as Gaikwad’s replacement.

#1 Jonny Bairstow can replace Ruturaj Gaikwad

Jonny Bairstow had been a top performer for the SunRisers Hyderabad and Punjab Kings, but none of the IPL teams invested in his services at the mega auction. The England batter has a habit of providing explosive starts to his team at the top of the order.

In IPL 2023, captain MS Dhoni used the right hand-left hand combination of Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway as openers. He can use a similar strategy in IPL 2025 if CSK bring in Bairstow. The Englishman and Rachin Ravindra or Conway can be CSK’s new opening pair.

Bairstow has enormous IPL experience under his belt, and has also played a lot of matches in India. Notably, he scored an unbeaten 48-ball 108* for Punjab against Kolkata Knight Riders last year in IPL. Plus, he also turned up for CSK’s sister franchise Joburg Super Kings in SA20 2024.

#2 Ayush Mhatre

17-year-old Mumbai batter Ayush Mhatre was reportedly called by the CSK management for trials. It might be an indication that the Chennai Super Kings want him in their squad as a backup player.

Perhaps, new captain MS Dhoni and head coach Stephen Fleming may persist with the duo of Rachin Ravindra and Devon Conway as openers. In that case, Rahul Tripathi, Vijay Shankar or Deepak Hooda can bat at number three, with Mhatre being a backup option.

#3 Evin Lewis

Chennai Super Kings have smashed only 11 sixes in five matches of IPL 2025 so far. Notably, a few individual batters have whacked more maximums than the CSK team this season. It is an alarming sign for the team, which is why the management may consider roping in a big-hitter.

Evin Lewis was a game-changer for Mumbai Indians and Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL in the past. Looking at how Sherfane Rutherford has performed for the Gujarat Titans as a big-hitter, CSK can consider bringing in Lewis as a replacement.

Apart from the three names mentioned on the list, CSK can also look at the likes of Prithvi Shaw, Mayank Agarwal, Finn Allen, Sam Billings and KS Bharat as probable replacement options for Ruturaj Gaikwad.

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Vinay has been working as a cricket journalist at Sportskeeda since 2018. A veteran writer, he has a total previous work experience of 8 years working for the likes of Swag Cricket and Fambeat, and believes in thoroughly verifying each and every piece of information before writing any article. His meticulous methods have led him to amass a significant readership of close to 30 million at Sportskeeda, along with winning several awards such as Machine Writer, Top Earning Affiliate, and Perfectionist Writer in his Sportskeeda journey so far.

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Edited by Sankalp Srivastava