Chennai Super Kings (CSK) is coming with a new plan in the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). This time the franchise has bet on young players. Before this, she had expressed confidence only in experienced players. After poor performance last season, CSK changed its philosophy and spent Rs 14.20-14.20 crore on young players like Prashant Veer and Karthik Sharma. He already had young talents like Ayush Mhatre, Dewald Brewis and Noor Ahmed. CSK, once known as ‘Daddy Army’, now has 5 players in its playing XI who are below 25 years of age.
Will CSK play Sarfaraz?
CSK has also bought Sarfaraz Khan. Sarfaraz has made a comeback in IPL by batting brilliantly in the white ball tournament of domestic cricket. He had scored a century in 47 balls against Assam in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) before the auction in the mini auction held in December last year. After this he played some more excellent innings, due to which he was successful in getting the bid. However, he does not seem to be getting a place in CSK’s playing XI.
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Sarfaraz is taking less than three balls for every boundary
CSK team will field with the opening pair of Sanju Samson and Ayush Mhatre. After this will come captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, Dewald Brevis, Shivam Dubey, Karthik Sharma, Prashant Veer and Mahendra Singh Dhoni. It is difficult for Sarfaraz to get a chance in this batting order. If CSK plays them, Karthik Sharma will have to sit out. Considering the amount of money the franchise has spent on Karthik, it is unlikely that he will be left out.
It is not possible for Sarfaraz to be considered even as an impact player. CSK will be seen trying out Jamie Overton or Ramakrishna Ghosh as an impact player. However, if we look at Sarfaraz’s record, he can prove to be important in the middle order of CSK. He plays spin well. Besides, he has also improved his strike rate. In T20 from June 2025, he is hitting a boundary on every 2.89th ball. This means that Sarfaraz is playing less than three balls for every boundary. Among the batsmen entering IPL 2026 who have hit at least 50 boundaries during this period, Sarfaraz has the best boundary ratio on the ball. Now it remains to be seen whether CSK management is able to fit him in the playing XI or not.
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CSK’s probable playing XI: Sanju Samson, Ayush Mhatre, Ruturaj Gaikwad (captain), Dewald Brewis, Shivam Dubey, Karthik Sharma, Prashant Veer, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wicketkeeper), Khaleel Ahmed, Noor Ahmed, Matt Henry/Akeel Hussain.
Impact Player – Jamie Overton/Ramakrishna Ghosh
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