With Sanju Samson as the opening pick, you can explore the most strongly predicted player 11 for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for IPL 2026.
If we had to define a makeover year for the CSK team in the 19 years of the Indian Premier League, it has to be IPL 2026. From the name Daddy’s army to Uncapped Merchants, the Chennai Super Kings team has come a long way. Never did anyone think that Chennai Super Kings would have one of the youngest squads in the league and this is when MS Dhoni, the leader, is still playing.
During the IPL years Mid 2025 and 2026, Chennai Super Kings invested more in young and upcoming players than in experienced players. Who would have thought that CSK would shell out over 14 Cr to buy not just one, but two uncapped players in one auction? And not only this, most of the players in their team are now filled with young players, who will bring enormous energy to the team.
With such a shift in strategy and two boring years (2024 and 2025) behind the CSK team, the combination they adopt for the playing 11 will be very interesting. So, with the complete squad and team details in front of us, let’s analyze the entire squad list and take a look at the strongest playing 11 that Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will field for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) complete squad list for IPL 2026
Batters
- Ayush Mhatre
- Dewald Brevis (OS)
- Loture Gaikwad (C)
- Sarfaraz Khan
World Cups
- MS Dhoni
- Sanju Samson
- Urvil Patel
- Kartik Sharma
All-rounders
- Anshul Kamboj
- Jamie Overton (OS)
- Shivam Dubey
- Prashant Veer
- Matthew Short (OS)
- Aman Khan
- Zak Foulkes (OS)
Bowlers
- Gurjapneet Singh
- Khaleel Ahmed
- Mukesh Choudhary
- Nathan Ellis (OS)
- Noor Ahmad (OS)
- Ramkrishna Ghosh
- Shreyas Gopal
- Akéal Hosein (OS)
- Matt Henry (OS)
- Rahul Chahar
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) Best Plays 11 Analyzed
If we start with the top order, which seems set, a decision can be made on who will open the innings and who will play at No. 3. For the top order, CSK is almost certain to play Ayush Mhatre, Sanju Samson and Ruturaj Gaikwad. While Ayush Mhatre’s opening is confirmed, besides Ayush, there will be an opening between Sanju Samson and Ruturaj Gaikwad. But who opens the innings will be a key question.
Ideally, Sanju Samson is more powerful to play as an opener, and similarly, Ruturaj Gaikwad is ideal to play for the number 3 position. With Sanju Samson opening alongside Ayush Mhatre, CSK gets an explosive opening pair, and if someone like Ruturaj Gaikwad is at 3, they get a player who can control the innings if the wickets fall early, and continue the attacking role if CSK get off to a blistering start.
With a fixed top order, the most important question for CSK arises: who will play in the middle order? Ideally, CSK would want a strong batting core, which was a bit lacking last year. So when you get someone like Matthew Short at four years old, you get a rock-solid mid-range player, and also someone who can roll his arm over a few times. Following Short, CSK can think of Dewald Brevis and Shivam Dube in the closing role. This is a solid top 5 for CSK, and the one that can absorb any attack from the opposition.
Focus on strengthening the hitter
CSK also has young Kartik Sharma who can play at the number 4 position. However, if CSK play Kartik, they may be short of a sixth bowler and will then have to rely entirely on the uncapped Prashant Veer for his 4 overs. So even if CSK were to spend a fortune on Kartik Sharma, he will have to wait for his chance. But if CSK decide to play Kartik Sharma at 4, they might as well play both Nathan Ellis and Matt Henry together, which will boost their bowling but leave CSK bereft of a sixth bowler.
Coming to the lower order, CSK will continue to have MS Dhoni at 7 or 8 with Prashant Veer getting more opportunities over MS Dhoni to hit a few in the death overs. Dhoni, as we have seen in recent years, will only come into play for a few balls and give the other players more game time. In addition to this solid top 8, Anshul Kamboj, Noor Ahmad and Matt Henry can also fill in as needed. They may not be competent hitters, but for a few balls they can come and hit a few.
Bowling setup
Talking about the bowling line-up, the CSK team will continue with a combination of 3 pace and 2 spin with Dube and Short bowling a few overs if required. For pace bowling, CSK are likely to choose Nathan Ellis over Matt Henry as he can be deployed more in the middle and death overs. Khaleel and Anshul are true powerplay bowlers, so having Matt Henry over Nathan Ellis may not be wise. With this strategy, CSK can immediately use Anshul Kamboj for 3 overs in the powerplay, with Khaleel Ahmed bowling 2 overs and Nathan Ellis 1 over.
In support of these three pacers, Noor Ahmad will once again play a crucial role in the middle overs as a wicket-taker. With four strong bowlers in place, Prashant Veer as the fifth bowler will not feel too much pressure. Prashant Veer can bowl with a lot of freedom in the middle overs in the first few matches. If things don’t go well with the fifth bowler, CSK can use Matthew Short or Shivam Dube for a few overs.
IPL 2026 Chennai Super Kings (CSK) strongest playing team 11
- Ayush Mhatre
- Sanju Samson
- Community Gaikwad (c)
- Matthew Short
- Dewald Brevis
- Shivam Dubey
- MS Dhoni (wk)
- Prashant Veer
- Anshul Kamboj
- Noor Ahmed
- Nathan Ellis
- Khaleel Ahmed – Impact player
So that’s about the strongest playing 11 for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for IPL 2026. Overall, this is a solid playing 11, and the one that can bowl on all types of pitches. In case CSK needs more spin in the side, they can play Rahul Chahar in place of Anshul Kamboj to have three spinners in the side. They can also use Akeal Hosein instead of Matthew Short if they already need a bowling all-rounder over a batting all-rounder.
Thanks for reading! What do you play the strongest for when you play 11? Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for IPL 2026? Send your opinion by email to business@cricalytics.com
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