A poor auction is not customary of a team that is five-time champions, but the Chennai Super Kings had a tumultuous one ahead of the 2026 IPL. There are
a few holes within the team and the untimely injury of fast-bowler Nathan Ellis has thrown a spanner in the works for their season.
But despite this, the team in yellow has in their squad multiple proven match-winners, who can take the game away from the opposition in a jiffy. These players possess the ability to turn games around with either bat or ball, and their performances would be vital if CSK are to right the wrongs of 2025’s last-placed finish.
Let us look at five players who can be match winners for the Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2026
5) Noor Ahmad
While CSK had a disastrous campaign in 2025, one of the standouts from their season was Afghanistan’s Noor Ahmad. The left-arm wrist-spinner picked up 24 wickets at an average of 17, with batters often finding it difficult to play his bowling. Noor has been entrusted with the role of CSK'S lead spinner this season and is slated to play a big role for the team.
He was Chennai Super Kings’ most expensive buy in the 2025 Mega Auction, with the franchise shelling out INR 10 crore for his services, a testament to the faith that the management put on him.
4) Dewald Brevis
Dewald Brevis came in last season as an injury replacement midway through the 2025 season and was an instant hit. The dashing South African batter has made himself a mainstay for the Proteas in white-ball cricket and is one of CSK’s most important batters going into the season. He scored 225 runs in six innings at a blistering strike rate of 180, and was one of Chennai’s most exciting players in an otherwise dismal campaign.
Likened to AB de Villiers in the past, Brevis is finally showing signs of fulfilling that potential. Striking the ball as clean as ever, Brevis has developed the temperament for scoring big, which makes him a genuine game-breaker with bat in hand.
3) Shivam Dube
Shivam Dube has been Chennai’s go-to man for tough situations. Taking on the spinners? He is the guy. Want to accelerate the scoring rate? He is the man. Need someone who can counter-attack when wickets are falling? He is there too. His prowess for hitting spinners has been vital at the Chepauk and he played a key role in their last title triumph in 2023.
Dube is coming off a successful T20 World Cup campaign, where his 43 off 28 balls batting at No. 4 in the semifinal helped India combat England’s spinners in the middle overs, as they pushed on to a massive 253. CSK will be hoping for similar fireworks from Dube when the season gets underway.
2) Ruturaj Gaikwad
The Chennai Super Kings’ skipper comes in with a point to prove. After he had to pull out midway through last season, he will be looking to return to the IPL all guns blazing. With two 500-plus run seasons in 2023 and 2024, he will look to find that form back.
Ruturaj Gaikwad has played multiple vital knocks for the Chennai Super Kings, and despite the addition of Saju Samson at the top of the order, the responsibility still stands on his shoulders as the captain of the team. If he has a successful season, there is no stopping the CSK juggernaut this season.
1) Sanju Samson
The new poster-boy of Chennai, Sanju Samson was traded in from the Rajasthan Royals to the fracnhise. There will be huge expectations from him to click for the team in yellow. Samson comes off a Player-of-the-Tournament performance at the T20 World Cup, with big scores in must-win games along India’s march to victory.
His unbeaten 97 and identical scores of 89 were the backbone of the Indian innings against West Indies, England and New Zealand respectively. He finished the tournament with 321 runs in just five innings, striking at a blistering 199.37. Samson has proven that he is not just a dashing opener but a real game-breaker, and Chennai fans will be expecting the same of him.
