Chennai Super Kings (CSK) might have signed one of the best openers available in the IPL in Sanju Samson, but they are not guaranteed to put him at the top of the order in the IPL 2026 season. Former India
opener Aakash Chopra believes that Samson should be placed at number three, with youngster Ayush Mhatre, who broke through the team last year, to open alongside skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad.
CSK traded Samson from the Rajasthan Royals (RR) at a hefty price tag of Rs. 18 crore. The right-hander has spent the majority of his IPL career playing at number three, scoring 3096 runs (including three centuries) at a strike rate of 143.33, his best for any position with a minimum of two games. However, for India, Samson has been an out-and-out opener, scoring three tons in T20Is while being one of the first two batters.
Mhatre, on the other hand, is a big future investment from CSK. He’s spoken in the same breath as the uber-talent Vaibhav Suryavanshi and showed glimpses of that with his 240 runs at a strike-rate of 188.98 (most as an opener) after his mid-season entry to the team in 2025.
“The big question that they need to answer is if Ruturaj Gaikwad and Sanju Samson are opening,” Chopra said on a Star Sports video. “The best of Samson has come as an opener, whether for RR or Team India. For now, we have kept him at number three because Ayush Mhatre has been outstanding in the limited games he has played. If they continue with this, they will still need somebody at number four.”
Chopra added that going into IPL 2026 action, CSK might look for an overseas middle-order batter alongside a spinner to offset the absence of Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin.
“It can be David Miller, Liam Livingstone or even Dewald Brevis can go to number four. In terms of spin, I see Ravi Bishnoi or Rahul Chahar coming into the team because they need spinners. Ravichandran Ashwin retired, Ravindra Jadeja traded. Only Shreyas Gopal and Noor Ahmad right now in their squad as far as spinners are concerned. So, (leg-spinner, Ravi) Bishnoi can come in and they have a good purse amount,” he said.
