'When you enter into the CSK environment, you're really a part of a family'
Two former veterans of the franchise, Matthew Hayden and Ambati Rayudu, break down what makes Chennai Super Kings an IPL powerhouse
Where Chennai Super Kings finished last year
In last place, going through a five-match losing streak and then a four-match losing streak to finally have just four wins from 14 games.
What's new in IPL 2026
It's new but it's also something CSK have seen before. A T20 World-Cup-winning wicketkeeper-batter coming in. The MS Dhoni buy in 2008 set this franchise up for much of its success on and off the field and they will be hoping for a similar effect with Sanju Samson's arrival in 2026.
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The old CSK had someone like Mitchell Santner on their books and barely gave him game time. This one looks set to throw a 20-year-old who has played nine T20s and a 19-year-old who has played 12 T20s straight into their XI. Prashant Veer and Kartik Sharma were bought for INR 14.2 crore each signalling a huge shift from the way this team used to do things.
Part of this shift began in the middle of the last season when CSK brought in Ayush Mhatre - a World Cup winner now after leading India to the Under-19 title - as opener and Dewald Brevis as the No. 4 or 5 batter, both key positions in terms of innings building and acceleration. Their success, along with the rest of the teams trusting young talent to come good, has resulted in a strategic shift. Only time will tell if it will also bring trophies.
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Who's out, who's in doubt?
Nathan Ellis' injury - coming on the very last day of the One-Day Cup season in Australia - is a big blow. He was going to be their banker: someone who will play all 14 games and take on the role of bowling the tough overs (17 to 20). He has been replaced by compatriot Spencer Johnson, but the left-arm quick is also recovering from a back injury and will join the side only around April 21-23.
Veer hasn't played any cricket since January and Kartik since December, injuries limiting their participation in India's domestic tournaments. They are both fully fit now and have been hotting up the social media scene with their big hitting.
Matt Short picked up a finger injury playing his final game of the Sheffield Shield season earlier this month but has linked up with CSK.
Likely best XII
1. Sanju Samson, 2 Ruturaj Gaikwad (capt), 3 Ayush Mhatre, 4 Shivam Dube, 5 Dewald Brevis*, 6 Kartik Sharma/Sarfaraz Khan, 7 Prashant Veer, 8 MS Dhoni (wk), 9 Jamie Overton*/Ramakrishna Ghosh, 10 Noor Ahmad*, 11 Matt Henry/Akeal Hosein*, 12 Khaleel Ahmed
*denotes overseas pick
*denotes overseas pick
Big question
Watch out for
CSK's bowling. They traded Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran to Rajasthan Royals to bring in Samson. Veer is meant to pick up some of that slack and comes with a willingness to do what Jadeja rarely did - bowl his left-arm spin in the powerplay, though the sample size is very small and the level of those games in the UPT20 league cannot compare to the level he will be playing at for the next few weeks.
Matt Henry, Khaleel Ahmed and Akeal Hosein can be a good new-ball options but there is significant concern over who their back-end specialists will be. It's possible CSK will save some of wristspinner Noor Ahmad's overs for that stage now that they have let go of Matheesha Pathirana.
From a time when they had players with clear roles and skills suited to those roles - Deepak Chahar to handle the powerplay, Jadeja to work the middle overs and Dwayne Bravo to slow it all down at the death - CSK are now in a situation where, particularly with their bowling attack, it's like let's just try stuff and see what happens.
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Key stats
- CSK's run-rate in the powerplay (8.7) and average (25.2) were the lowest of all teams in the league in 2025. Samson's arrival should help fix those numbers. He is coming off a Player-of-the-Tournament performance in the T20 World Cup. He is already among the top 15 run-getters in the IPL and is capable of scoring freely through both the off side and the leg side. Since the 2024 season, though, his strike rate against spin (138) is slightly off his strike rate against pace (155).
- Should Samson offer the solidity that CSK expect from him, it might have a knock-on effect on the rest of the line-up. Shivam Dube might not have to set himself up to play long innings. He could go back to his high-impact ways. From a strike rate of 156 in 2022, 158 in 2023 and 162 in 2024, he dropped to just 132 in 2025. CSK's top-order troubles diminished him last season. This time he could be back at his best.
- After three seasons where Dhoni struck around the 120 mark or lower, he settled into a role where he batted 10-12 balls per innings and concentrated on hitting every one of them for six. His strike rate in 2023 was 182. His strike rate in 2024 was 221. But last year, he had to play 145 balls, which was more than 2023 (57) and 2024 (73) combined, and he struggled, maintaining a strike rate of 135. CSK will want their top five to set them up better so Dhoni can go back to doing his thing.
- CSK weren't too far off the mark with their death-overs bowling last year. Their economy rate (11) was comparable to the top team - Mumbai Indians (10.14). Will they be able to keep those levels?