Ravichandran Ashwin selected CSK’s playing XI for IPL 2026, gave opening to Sanju Samson

By Samira Vishwas On Dec 22, 2025

Yes, that is what has happened. In fact, recently by sharing a tweet from the official So former CSK cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin responded to this and presented his favorite CSK playing 12 for the year 2026 in front of the world.

Here he first chose the new opening pair of CSK for the upcoming season of IPL and gave this responsibility to 18-year-old Ayush Mhatre along with experienced wicketkeeper batsman Sanju Samson. Know that Chennai Super Kings have acquired Sanju Samson from Rajasthan Royals through trade before the mini auction. The special thing is that for Sanju, he left even his number-1 all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and English all-rounder Sam Curran.

After this R. Ashwin chose Captain Ruturaj Gaikwad as the number-3 player of CSK. Whereas in the middle order, place was given to Shivam Dubey, Dewald Brevis and 20-year-old uncapped all-rounder Prashant Veer, who was bought by Super Kings for Rs 14.20 crore in the mini auction.

If we talk about number-7 then here R. Ashwin’s first and last choice is Mahendra Singh Dhoni, while as bowlers he has chosen Akil Hussain/Matt Henry, Khaleel Ahmed, Nathan Ellis and Noor Ahmed in the playing eleven.

Also know that while selecting the impact player of CSK, Ravichandran Ashwin kept many names which according to him can be used keeping in mind the combination of playing eleven and the situation of the match. Among these, Ashwin has named players like Anshul Kamboj, Karthik Sharma, Shreyas Gopal, and Sarfaraz Khan.

CSK’s playing XI selected by Ravichandran Ashwin: Ayush Mhatre, Sanju Samson, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shivam Dubey, Dewald Brewis, Prashant Veer, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Akil Hussain/Matt Henry, Khalil Ahmed, Nathan Ellis, Noor Ahmed. Impact Players: Anshul Kamboj/Karthik Sharma/Shreyas Gopal/Sarfaraz Khan.

CSK full squad for IPL 2026: Rituraj Gaikwad, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dubey, Ayush Mhatre, Dewald Brewis, Urvil Patel, Anshul Kamboj, Gurjapaneet Singh, Jamie Overton, Mukesh Chaudhary, Nathan Ellis, Noor Ahmed, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Shreyas Gopal, Khalil Ahmed, Sarfaraz Khan, Kartik Sharma, Prashant Veer, Matthew Short, Aman Khan, Jack Fox, Akil Hussain, Rahul Chahar, Matt Henry.