4 min readUpdated: Apr 4, 2026 12:08 PM IST
Ruturaj Gaikwad’s captaincy has come under scrutiny at the Chennai Super Kings after successive defeats at the start of their IPL 2026 campaign. While former CSK batter S Badrinath openly criticised Gaikwad’s tactics, other pundits feel the presence of Sanju Samson will challenge Gaikwad’s security as a leader this season.
Despite scoring 209 in their first home game of the season against the Punjab Kings on Friday night, CSK suffered a crushing defeat, compounding Gaikwad’s woes as captain. With Samson emerging as the preferred choice to succeed MS Dhoni as CSK’s next wicket-keeping talisman, Gaikwad will feel the heat, according to pundits Michael Vaughan and Simon Doull.
In a chat with former England captain Vaughan, Doull was asked whether Samson’s presence would affect Gaikwad’s leadership.
‘Absolutely threatened’
“What about the captain, Gaikwad? Do you think he feels threatened [by Samson]?” Vaughan asked the former New Zealand seaer on Cricbuzz.
“Absolutely,” replied Doull.
Vaughan too observed that Gaikwad will face ample pressure in Samson’s presence. Despite the poor start to his captaincy tenure, Gaikwad 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, while Samson’s signing comes after his extensive reign as Rajasthan Royals captain between 2021 and 2025.
“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.
Stiff for Samson too
Meanwhile, Doull declared embracing a high-profile role at CSK will be a challenging proposition for Samson too. Involved in a Rs 18 crore trade from Rajasthan, Samson’s start with the franchise has involved two cheap dismissals this week.
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“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 own performances in the T20 World Cup last month, where he emerged as India’s leading 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.
