Former Chennai Super Kings player R Ashwinhas named his preferred CSK's XI for the upcoming installment of the Indian Premier League. CSK bought nine players
at the auction for IPL 2026 on December 16.
Replying to CSK's tweet, he included Ayush Mhatre and Sanju Samson up top. Skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad and Shivam Dube were placed at No. 3 and No. 4, respectively. South African middle-order batter Dewald Brevis was slotted at No. 5.
Prashant Veer, one of the two uncapped players who was bought for a whopping INR 14.2 crore, was placed above the legendary MS Dhoni. Ashwin was divided between Akeal Hosein and Matt Henry at No. 8. Ashwin selected Khaleel Ahmed and Nathan Ellis as the sure-shot fast bowlers with the wrist-spin of Noor Ahmad included as well.
Notably, Ashwin included the other INR 14.2 crore pick Kartik Sharma among the Impact Player list. Ashwin's choices for the Impact Player were based on team combination and different situations, which he included beside the list.
R Ashwin's CSK's XI for IPL 2026
Ayush Mhatre, Sanju Samson, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shivam Dube, Dewald Brevis, Prashant Veer, MS Dhoni, Akeal Hosein/Matt Henry, Khaleel Ahmed, Nathan Ellis, Noor Ahmad
Impact Player: Anshul Kamboj/Kartik Sharma/Shreyas Gopal/Sarfaraz Khan
CSKspent INR 41 crore at the auction. INR 28.4 crore was spent by the Men in Yellow on the upcoming uncapped Prashant-Kartik duo of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, respectively. The two impressed with their performances in the 2025 installment of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
The Men in Yellow are five-time champions of the marquee T20 league. However, they had a forgettable season in IPL 2025, as they finished at rock bottom with only four wins out of 14 matches, ending up with a subpar net run rate of -0.647.
CSK's final squad for IPL 2026
MS Dhoni, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson, Ayush Mhatre, Dewald Brewis, Shivam Dube, Urvil Patel, Noor Ahmad, Nathan Ellis, Shreyas Gopal, Khaleel Ahmed, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Mukesh Choudhary, Jamie Overton, Gurjapneet Singh, Anshul Kamboj, Akeal Hosein, Prashant Veer, Kartik Sharma, Matthew Short, Aman Khan, Sarfaraz Khan, Matt Henry, Rahul Chahar, Zak Foulkes
