MS Dhoni becomes oldest-ever captain in IPL at 43 years & 278 days; check complete list

At 43 years and 278 days, MS Dhoni became the oldest-ever captain to lead a franchise in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Dhoni, who had left captaincy after 2023 season, was reappointed as the captain of CSK midway into IPL 2025 after regular captain Ruturaj Gaikwad was ruled out of the tournament due to an elbow injury.

In the process, Dhoni extended his record for the oldest captain in IPL. The record he previously held was during 2023 season when he led CSK against Gujarat Titans at the age of 41 years and 326 days.

Oldest captains to lead in IPL

• MS Dhoni (CSK) - 43y 278d (vs KKR, 2025)
• MS Dhoni (CSK) - 41y 326d (vs GT, 2023)
• Shane Warne (RR) - 41y 249d (vs MI, 2011)
• Adam Gilchrist (KXIP) - 41y 185d (vs MI, 2013)
• Rahul Dravid (RR) - 40y 133d (vs MI, 2013)
• Sourav Ganguly (PWI) - 39y 316d (vs KKR, 2012)

Meanwhille, KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane won the toss and opted to bowl first. KKR made one change, bringing in Moeen Ali in place of Spencer Johnson. CSK made two changes, drafting Rahul Tripathi and Anshul Kamboj for Ruturaj Gaikwad and Mukesh Choudhary.

CSK vs KKR playing XIs

Chennai Super Kings: Rachin Ravindra, Devon Conway, Rahul Tripathi, Vijay Shankar, Shivam Dube, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Noor Ahmad, Anshul Kamboj, Khaleel Ahmed.

Kolkata Knight Riders: Quinton de Kock (wk), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane (c), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Moeen Ali, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy.

Where KKR, CSK stand in IPL 2025?

Five-time champions each, both Mumbai Indians and CSK had forgettable starts in IPL 2025. After winning their IPL 2025 opener against Mumbai Indians, CSK lost their next four games. With just one win in five matches, CSK languish at ninth in the points table. The story is slightly different for KKR. They have won just two out of their five games and stand sixth. 

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