Ruturaj Gaikwad’s leadership has come under scrutiny at the Chennai Super Kings, with the team losing back-to-back matches at the start of their IPL 2026 campaign. While former CSK cricketers like S Badrinath have openly criticised his tactics, other pundits feel the presence of new recruit Sanju Samson will challenge Gaikwad’s security as a leader.
Despite scoring 209 in their first home game of the season against the , suffered a crushing defeat, which compounded Gaikwad’s woes as captain. With Samson emerging as the preferred choice to succeed the legendary MS Dhoni as CSK’s next favoured wicket-keeper and high-profile persona, Gaikwad will feel the heat on himself, according to former New Zealand pacer and commentator, Simon Doull.
In a chat with former England captain Michael Vaughan, Doull was asked if Samson’s presence would affect Gaikwad.
“What about the captain, Gaikwad? Do you think he feels threatened [by Samson]?” Vaughan asked Doull on Cricbuzz.
“Absolutely,” replied Doull.
Vaughan observed that it is inevitable that Gaikwad will face some pressure in Samson’s presence after a poor start to his captaincy tenure even while he continues to find the backing from the CSK team management. Gaikwad has now lost 13 of the 21 matches he has led the five-time champions in since 2024.
“So that’s another kind of dynamic that you’re looking at. [One of the league’s] youngest captains, Gaikwad, he’s done it a bit now and you kind of go, ‘Go on, we’re gonna back you, you’re the captain. But by the way, we’re signing Sanju, who’s a very good captain and he’s a keeper. And guess what? We’ve had a keeper who was a captain for a long period of time and did very well, and we’re gonna try and replace him. But you carry on captaining and hope it doesn’t affect you,” remarked Vaughan.
Meanwhile, Doull also declared that challenge of embracing a high-profile role at CSK will be a challenge for Samson too. Involved in a Rs 18 crore trade from , Samson’s start with the franchise has involved two cheap dismissals this wee.
“Tough challenge for him, and it’s one of those situations you find yourself in when you’re not desperate, but when you want to play for a certain side and you want to put on a show,” Doull had said before Friday’s match against Punjab Kings.
Doull said Samson could seek inspiration from his superb display under in the T20 World Cup last month where he emerged as India’s star in the knockouts.
“He is a South boy, isn’t he? He is a Kerala boy. He wants to put on a show. I think he feels like he’s more at home. In the South, the trade happened; it was a big trade as we’ve talked about, you’ve lost 2 high quality players for one player. So the pressure’s quite enormous, the pressure of maybe what they see him as in the future as well. But he just got to think back to a few weeks ago, doesn’t he? And how was he playing in the last 3 games [in the T20 World Cup],” Doull added.
