Former England skipper Michael Vaughan urged Chennai Super Kings to name Sanju Samson as their new captain for IPL 2027. Ruturaj Gaikwad is leading CSK in the ongoing season but he could not lead from the front.

The CSK skipper could only manage 15 runs off 21 balls against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on Monday. Gaikwad has scored 321 runs in 13 matches of IPL 2026 but has scored his runs at a mundane strike rate of 120.67.

On the other hand, Samson has the experience of leading Rajasthan Royals in the IPL. Samson has been CSK’s best batter in IPL 2026, scoring 477 runs in 13 games. 

Michael Vaughan said on his YouTube Channel, “I see Samson captaining next year. That might help Ruturaj’s batting as well. It might be better for him just getting into the ranks as a batter again. Sanju is world-class and very clever as a captain as well. So I think they would be better suited to have Sanju Samson as captain.”

The former English captain said CSK have performed better than the previous season but they haven’t been lucky with the injury woes. MS Dhoni hasn’t played a solitary match thus far whereas Jamie Overton was ruled out with a hamstring injury. Furthermore, Ayush Mhatre, who was providing the impetus in the middle overs, was also ruled out with a hamstring injury.

“They’ve been better than last year. Overton’s injury has been costly. They’ve not been lucky with the injuries. It was Sanju’s first year here, so he’ll be better next year,” said Vaughan (via the aforementioned source).

Vaughan said MS Dhoni will be with CSK in the next season, even if it is not in a playing role.

“It also remains to be seen if Dhoni is around next year and what effect he has on the group. But I am sure even if he’s not playing, he’ll be around next year. Yet, they are two or three players away from competing at the highest level, but they are not far off,” added Vaughan.

CSK will next take on Gujarat Titans at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, on Thursday.