Popular franchise Chennai Super Kings (CSK) suffered a major setback after their captain Ruturaj Gaikwad was ruled out of the IPL 2025 (Indian Premier League) season after fracturing his elbow. As a result, the former legendary skipper MS Dhoni is most likely to lead the side for the rest of the tournament. The Chepauk brigade is now forced to look for new options at the top of the batting order.

While there are many star batters in the playing XI and CSK squad who could be shuffled up or down the order in a bid to find the right combination for the matches ahead, in a parallel world, we at CricTracker tried to take an alternate yet hypothetical route by involving players from across the border. With the Pakistan Super League (PSL 2025) all set to begin on Friday, April 11, we asked AI to predict three apt replacements for Gaikwad in what will be a T20 league crossover.

Now, given that Ruturaj Gaikwad is a technically sound batter and plays risk-free cricket most of the time, it becomes quite a tedious task to find a like-for-like replacement. However, if given a chance to embrace the cross-cultural aspect of cricket, with the help of AI (Artificial Intelligence), we found three Pakistan-based cricket stars who could prove to be suitable replacements.

Here are three PSL players who can be ideal replacements for Ruturaj Gaikwad in IPL 2025:

3. Babar Azam

Pakistan’s former captain and experienced batter is rated as the most technically adept batter. Babar Azam plays for the Peshawar Zalmi franchise in the PSL. Due to political restrictions, it is quite evident that some experienced players like him were not allowed to go under the hammer in the IPL auctions. The way he plays cover drives simply oozes class. In the international arena, he has been the most consistent batter.

Usually calm and composed, he can prove to be a perfect choice to anchor the innings for CSK. Furthermore, he also carries vast experience in captaincy as well. Hence, he can also assist the team in managing the proceedings while on the ground.

2. Saim Ayub

Another batter who has been on the rise and has made a name for himself while representing Peshawar Zalmi in his home nation, Saim Ayub has got the game to take risks and play an aggressive brand of cricket in the powerplay phase upfront. Given that CSK are still dealing with finding the right approach to play fearlessly in the powerplay, his all-around-the-wicket ability makes him just the ideal candidate to replace Ruturaj Gaikwad.

Quite interestingly, another factor which goes in his favour is the fact that CSK love grooming new blood. Hence, someone like Ayub can be a long-term future investment for the Chennai-based franchise.

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1. Sahibzada Farhan

The 29-year-old has considerable domestic cricket experience and has also played for Pakistan at the international level. Sahibzada Farhan had a decent PSL campaign for team Islamabad United last year and has also been a consistent performer in the domestic circuit.

Farhan has a good temperament—just the kind CSK will be fancying. Moreover, not only is he technically brilliant, but he also has a KL Rahul-like ability to bat both at the top order and shuffle down the middle order as well. This means that he offers more flexibility to Chennai Super Kings than any other PSL player. Hence, given these attributes, Farhan could be the most suitable replacement for Ruturaj Gaikwad in IPL 2025.