IPL 2026 ain’t turning out to be the greatest os seasons for Chennai Super Kings (CSK).They have lost four of their six games and only won two. Their Net Run Rate (NRR) is -0.780, which requires improvement as they are in the bottom half of the table.While their batters have been fairly consistent, their bowling department is struggling to get the measure of opponents.
Their bowlers failed to defend 209 against Punjab Kings in match 7 and conceded 250 against RCB in match 11.Even in match 27 against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), they leaked 194 as CSK fell short by 10 runs.
What’s going wrong for CSK?
CSK’s bowling struggles can be traced back to their auction strategy coming into IPL 2026. They retained their premier fast bowler, Nathan Ellis and didn’t sign a worthy replacement.CSK’s faith in Ellis was justified. Ellis is the No. 11-ranked T20I bowler in ICC rankings with 661 ratings. He guided Hobart Hurricanes to their maiden BBL title in the 2024-25 season.
Ellis led by example and bagged 13 wickets in 10 games that BBL season at an average of 21.76 and an economy rate of 7.86.
The right-arm pacer picked up the third most number of wickets (9 wickets in 10 matches) in the death overs by any bowler between January 2024 and August 2025. But what stood out was his economy rate of 6.85.
He was looking poised to help Hurricanes defend their BBL title in the 2025-26 season before he missed the Knockout Final owing to a hamstring injury.
CSK’s overreliance on Nathan Ellis proving costly?
Ellis failed to recover from the injury on time, and CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan, in the lead-up to IPL 2026, announced that the Aussie won’t be able to render his services.
Ellis’ injury has put CSK’s IPL campaign in jeopardy as they do not have someone of the same stature who could fill in his boots. CSK’s overseas pacers Matt Henry (economy of 8.50 in T20Is), Zak Foulkes (economy of 8.99 in T20Is) and Jamie Overton (economy of 8.23 in T20Is) are all a work in progress in the shortest format.
They do not provide the same assurance as Ellis either in the powerplay or at the death. What is also scary for a CSK fan is the man whom the management has picked as Ellis’ replacement – Spencer Johnson.Johnson has not played a competitive game since April 8, 2025 (KKR vs LSG).
He was out of action with a back injury and has been undergoing rehab since. Picking someone who is not as battle-hardened as one should be for a tournament like the IPL, CSK seem to have erred again. Their woes have compounded following Khaleel Ahmed’s quadriceps injury. The left-arm seamer is out for the remainder of the season and has left the team management scratching their heads.
