4 Maharashtra players who are a part of CSK for IPL 2025 ft. Ruturaj Gaikwad
With the mega auction completed, the five-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and every other team will have a new-look squad. At the auction last month, the Yellow Army tried to get as many of their former players as possible, a strategy that marked Ravichandran Ashwin’s return to the team.
While they brought back several known faces like Rachin Ravindra and Devon Conway, CSK also added previously released players like Sam Curran and Ashwin. The think tank did manage to build a balanced squad, and one noticeable thing was the inclusion of four Maharashtra players.
CSK had retained five players, one being their skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad, who hails from Maharashtra. Three more players from the state joined the star cricketer in the squad. Here’s a look:
4 Maharashtra players who are a part of CSK for IPL 2025
#4 Rahul Tripathi
Rahul Tripathi has been in the IPL circuit for a long time, having debuted in 2017. While he played for the Rising Pune Supergiant in his maiden campaign, he moved to the Rajasthan Royals for the 2018 and 2019 seasons.
Tripathi has represented four teams so far, CSK becoming his fifth IPL franchise in nine years. He represented the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in 2020 and 2021 before heading to the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) and making a name for himself from 2022 to 2024.
Born in Ranchi, Jharkhand, which is also MS Dhoni’s hometown, Tripathi represents Maharashtra in domestic cricket. His IPL heroics also helped him earn his India cap, as he made his international debut on January 5, 2023, against Sri Lanka.
#3 Mukesh Choudhary
Chennai Super Kings had roped in left-arm medium pacer Mukesh Choudhary at the 2022 mega auction, and then again at the recently concluded 2025 mega auction. He has been with the Men in Yellow since the 2022 edition, and with Deepak Chahar’s exit, the 28-year-old might as well get more games this season.
The Rajasthan-born represents Maharashtra in domestic cricket, having made his first-class debut in November 2017 during the 2017-18 Ranji Trophy. Choudhary's notable achievements include finishing the 2019-20 Vijay Hazare season as the highest wicket-taker for his team (31 wickets in eight matches).
He rose to fame during IPL 2022 when Chahar was ruled out owing to his injury. Choudhary played 13 matches that season and picked up 16 wickets, including registering his best bowling figures of 4/46 against SRH.
#2 Ramakrishna Ghosh
Ramakrishna Shekhar Ghosh, a Nashik-born cricketer, is yet to make his debut in the Indian Premier League. The batting-allrounder was bought by CSK at a base price of ₹30 lakh.
Ghosh is also new to the domestic setup, having made his debut in October 2022. He started his domestic career in T20s, representing Maharashtra against Karnataka in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
He then played his first List A game against the Services team before making his first-class debut earlier this year in January during the Maharashtra vs Jharkhand Ranji Trophy match. So far, he has 168 runs and five wickets in four FC matches, 21 runs and four wickets in four List A matches, and 30 runs and a wicket from six T20s.
#1 Ruturaj Gaikwad
One of the most popular players of team Maharashtra, Ruturaj Gaikwad was handed over CSK’s reigns from MS Dhoni ahead of IPL 2024. Dhoni, who led the team to their fifth title in 2023, stepped down from captaincy as Gaikwad stepped into the new role.
He started his IPL career with CSK in 2019 but was benched throughout the season. He received opportunities to play from the 2020 season onwards and has only excelled since then. He’s played some terrific knocks for the side over the years and played a key role in the team’s 2021 championship run, scoring 635 runs in 16 matches, inclusive of a century and four fifties.
Showing their faith in the Pune-born cricketer, CSK backed him even during bad times and eventually handed him the captaincy ahead of the 2024 edition. In 66 IPL matches, Gaikwad has scored 2380 runs, with his highest score being an unbeaten 108-run knock.