The Chennai Super Kings have signed Australian quick Spencer Johnson as a replacement player for Nathan Ellis, who has been ruled out of this year’s Indian Premier League due to injury.
Ellis, who aggravated a hamstring injury during the recent One-Day Cup final against New South Wales in Hobart, was retained by the Super Kings on a INR 2 crore (AU$300,000) deal despite only playing one match last season.
But on Tuesday, the Chennai-based franchise confirmed that Ellis had been ruled out of the T20 competition, with left-armed pacer Johnson taking his spot in the squad on a INR 1.5 crore (AU$220,000) deal.
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The 30-year-old has played five ODIs and eight T20Is for Australia since making his international debut in 2023, representing the Gujarat Titans and Kolkata Knight Riders during the previous two editions of the IPL in 2024 and 2025 respectively. However, he hasn’t played any competitive cricket since April last year due to a back injury that ruled him out of the Big Bash League and T20 World Cup, going unsold during this summer’s IPL Auction.
The 19th edition of the IPL gets underway on Saturday, with the Royal Challengers Bengaluru hosting the Sunrisers Hyderabad at M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
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A very Green payday for Cam | 00:40
HOW TO WATCH
Every match of the 2026 Indian Premier League will be shown live and ad-break free on Foxtel and streaming platform Kayo Sports.
AUSSIES IN ACTION
All salaries in AUD
Cameron Green, Kolkata Knight Riders — $4.17 million
Pat Cummins, Sunrisers Hyderabad — $3.67 million
Travis Head, Sunrisers Hyderabad — $2.5 million
Josh Hazlewood, Royal Challengers Bengaluru — $2.29 million
Mitchell Starc, Delhi Capitals — $2.15 million
Marcus Stoinis, Punjab Kings — $2 million
Josh Inglis, Lucknow Super Giants — $1.4 million
Ben Dwarshuis, Punjab Kings — $729,000
Mitchell Marsh, Lucknow Super Giants — $620,000
Cooper Connolly, Punjab Kings — $497,000
Jack Edwards, Sunrisers Hyderabad — $497,000
Mitchell Owen, Punjab Kings — $497,000
Tim David, Royal Challengers Bengaluru — $497,000
Matthew Short, Chennai Super Kings — $249,000
Spencer Johnson, Chennai Super Kings — $220,000 (replacement player for Nathan Ellis)
Xavier Bartlett, Punjab Kings — $122,000
BIGGEST AUCTION SIGNINGS
Cameron Green (AUS) to Kolkata Knight Riders for 25.2 crore (AU$4.17 million)
Matheesha Pathirana (SL) to Kolkata Knight Riders for 18 crore (AU$2.98 million)
Prashant Veer (IND) to Chennai Super Kings for 14.2 crore (AU$2.35 million)
Kartik Sharma (IND) to Chennai Super Kings for 14.2 crore (AU$2.35 million)
Liam Livingstone (ENG) to Sunrisers Hyderabad for 13 crore (AU$2.15 million)
FIXTURES
All times local, full fixture list yet to be confirmed
March 28, Saturday – Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Sunrisers Hyderabad, 7:30pm in Bengaluru
March 29, Sunday – Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders, 7:30pm in Mumbai
March 30, Monday – Rajasthan Royals vs Chennai Super Kings, 7:30pm in Guwahati
March 31, Tuesday – Punjab Kings vs Gujarat Titans, 7:30pm in Mullanpur
April 1, Wednesday – Lucknow Super Giants vs Delhi Capitals, 7:30pm in Lucknow
April 2, Thursday – Kolkata Knight Riders vs Sunrisers Hyderabad, 7:30pm in Kolkata
April 3, Friday – Chennai Super Kings vs Punjab Kings, 7:30pm in Chennai
April 4, Saturday – Delhi Capitals vs Mumbai Indians, 3:30pm in Delhi
April 4, Saturday – Gujarat Titans vs Rajasthan Royals, 7:30pm in Ahmedabad
April 5, Sunday – Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Lucknow Super Giants, 3:30pm in Hyderabad
April 5, Sunday – Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Chennai Super Kings, 7:30pm in Bengaluru
April 6, Monday – Kolkata Knight Riders vs Punjab Kings, 7:30pm in Kolkata
April 7, Tuesday – Rajasthan Royals vs Mumbai Indians, 7:30pm in Guwahati
April 8, Wednesday – Delhi Capitals vs Gujarat Titans, 7:30pm in Delhi
April 9, Thursday – Kolkata Knight Riders vs Lucknow Super Giants, 7:30pm in Kolkata
April 10, Friday – Rajasthan Royals vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru, 7:30pm in Guwahati
April 11, Saturday – Punjab Kings vs Sunrisers Hyderabad, 3:30pm in Mullanpur
April 11, Saturday – Chennai Super Kings vs Delhi Capitals, 7:30pm in Chennai
April 12, Sunday – Lucknow Super Giants vs Gujarat Titans, 3:30pm in Lucknow
April 12, Sunday – Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru, 7:30pm in Mumbai
April 13, Monday – Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Rajasthan Royals, 7:30 pm (Hyderabad)
April 14, Tuesday – Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders, 7:30 pm (Chennai)
April 15, Wednesday – Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Lucknow Super Giants, 7:30 pm (Bengaluru)
April 16, Thursday – Mumbai Indians vs Punjab Kings, 7:30 pm (Mumbai)
April 17, Friday – Gujarat Titans vs Kolkata Knight Riders, 7:30 pm (Ahmedabad)
April 18, Saturday – Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Delhi Capitals, 3:30 pm (Bengaluru)
April 18, Saturday – Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Chennai Super Kings, 7:30 pm (Hyderabad)
April 19, Sunday – Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals, 3:30 pm (Kolkata)
April 19, Sunday – Punjab Kings vs Lucknow Super Giants, 7:30 pm (New Chandigarh)
April 20, Monday – Gujarat Titans vs Mumbai Indians, 7:30 pm (Ahmedabad)
April 21, Tuesday – Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Delhi Capitals, 7:30 pm (Hyderabad)
April 22, Wednesday – Lucknow Super Giants vs Rajasthan Royals, 7:30 pm (Lucknow)
April 23, Thursday – Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings, 7:30 pm (Mumbai)
April 24, Friday – Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Gujarat Titans, 7:30 pm (Bengaluru)
April 25, Saturday – Delhi Capitals vs Punjab Kings, 3:30 pm (Delhi)
April 25, Saturday – Rajasthan Royals vs Sunrisers Hyderabad, 7:30 pm (Jaipur)
April 26, Sunday – Gujarat Titans vs Chennai Super Kings, 3:30 pm (Ahmedabad)
April 26, Sunday – Lucknow Super Giants vs Kolkata Knight Riders, 7:30 pm (Lucknow)
April 27, Monday – Delhi Capitals vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru, 7:30 pm (Delhi)
April 28, Tuesday – Punjab Kings vs Rajasthan Royals, 7:30 pm (New Chandigarh)
April 29, Wednesday – Mumbai Indians vs Sunrisers Hyderabad, 7:30 pm (Mumbai)
April 30, Thursday – Gujarat Titans vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru, 7:30 pm (Ahmedabad)
May 1, Friday – Rajasthan Royals vs Delhi Capitals, 7:30 pm (Jaipur)
May 2, Saturday – Chennai Super Kings vs Mumbai Indians, 7:30 pm (Chennai)
May 3, Sunday – Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Kolkata Knight Riders, 3:30 pm (Hyderabad)
May 3, Sunday – Gujarat Titans vs Punjab Kings, 7:30 pm (Ahmedabad)
May 4, Monday – Mumbai Indians vs Lucknow Super Giants, 7:30 pm (Mumbai)
May 5, Tuesday – Delhi Capitals vs Chennai Super Kings, 7:30 pm (Delhi)
May 6, Wednesday – Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Punjab Kings, 7:30 pm (Hyderabad)
May 7, Thursday – Lucknow Super Giants vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru, 7:30 pm (Lucknow)
May 8, Friday – Delhi Capitals vs Kolkata Knight Riders, 7:30 pm (Delhi)
May 9, Saturday – Rajasthan Royals vs Gujarat Titans, 7:30 pm (Jaipur)
May 10, Sunday – Chennai Super Kings vs Lucknow Super Giants, 3:30 pm (Chennai)
May 10, Sunday – Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Mumbai Indians, 7:30 pm (Raipur)
May 11, Monday – Punjab Kings vs Delhi Capitals, 7:30 pm (Dharamshala)
May 12, Tuesday – Gujarat Titans vs Sunrisers Hyderabad, 7:30 pm (Ahmedabad)
May 13, Wednesday – Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Kolkata Knight Riders, 7:30 pm (Raipur)
May 14, Thursday – Punjab Kings vs Mumbai Indians, 7:30 pm (Dharamshala)
May 15, Friday – Lucknow Super Giants vs Chennai Super Kings, 7:30 pm (Lucknow)
May 16, Saturday – Kolkata Knight Riders vs Gujarat Titans, 7:30 pm (Kolkata)
May 17, Sunday – Punjab Kings vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru, 3:30 pm (Dharamshala)
May 17, Sunday – Delhi Capitals vs Rajasthan Royals, 7:30 pm (Delhi)
May 18, Monday – Chennai Super Kings vs Sunrisers Hyderabad, 7:30 pm (Chennai)
May 19, Tuesday – Rajasthan Royals vs Lucknow Super Giants, 7:30 pm (Jaipur)
May 20, Wednesday – Kolkata Knight Riders vs Mumbai Indians, 7:30 pm (Kolkata)
May 21, Thursday – Chennai Super Kings vs Gujarat Titans, 7:30 pm (Chennai)
May 22, Friday – Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru, 7:30 pm (Hyderabad)
May 23, Saturday – Lucknow Super Giants vs Punjab Kings, 7:30 pm (Lucknow)
May 24, Sunday – Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals, 3:30 pm (Mumbai)
May 24, Sunday – Kolkata Knight Riders vs Delhi Capitals, 7:30 pm (Kolkata)
Kohli breaks down in tears as RCB win | 02:29
SQUADS
Chennai Super Kings
Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Ayush Mhatre, M.S. Dhoni, Sanju Samson, Dewald Brevis, Urvil Patel, Shivam Dube, Jamie Overton, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Noor Ahmad, Khaleel Ahmed, Anshul Kamboj, Gurjapneet Singh, Shreyas Gopal, Mukesh Choudhary, Nathan Ellis, Akeal Hosein, Prashant Veer, Kartik Sharma, Matthew Short, Aman Khan, Sarfaraz Khan, Matt Henry, Rahul Chahar, Zak Foulkes
Rajasthan Royals
Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, Donovan Ferreira, Sandeep Sharma, Shubham Dubey, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Lhuan-Dre Pretorius, Shimron Hetmyer, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Jofra Archer, Tushar Deshpande, Kwena Maphaka, Nandre Burger, Ravi Bishnoi, Sushant Mishra, Yash Raj Punja, Vignesh Puthur, Ravi Singh, Aman Rao, Brijesh Sharma, Adam Milne, Kuldeep Sen
Kolkata Knight Riders
Ajinkya Rahane, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Anukul Roy, Harshit Rana, Manish Pandey, Ramandeep Singh, Rinku Singh, Rovman Powell, Sunil Narine, Umran Malik, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy, Cameron Green, Finn Allen, Matheesha Pathirana, Tejasvi Singh, Kartik Tyagi, Prashant Solanki, Rahul Tripathi, Tim Seifert, Sarthak Ranjan, Daksh Kamra, Rachin Ravindra, Akash Deep, Blessing Muzarabani
Lucknow Super Giantts
Abdul Samad, Ayush Badoni, Aiden Markram, Matthew Breetzke, Himmat Singh, Rishabh Pant (c), Nicholas Pooran, Mitchell Marsh, Shahbaz Ahmed, Arshin Kulkarni, Mayank Yadav, Avesh Khan, Mohsin Khan, Manimaran Siddharth, Digvesh Rathi, Prince Yadav, Akash Singh, Mohammed Shami, Arjun Tendulkar, Wanindu Hasaranga, Anrich Nortje, Mukul Choudhary, Naman Tiwari, Akshat Raghuwanshi, Josh Inglis
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Pat Cummins (c), Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Aniket Verma, R. Smaran, Ishan Kishan, Heinrich Klaasen, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harsh Dubey, Kamindu Mendis, Harshal Patel, Brydon Carse, Jaydev Unadkat, Eshan Malinga, Zeeshan Ansari, Shivang Kumar, Salil Arora, Sakib Hussain, Onkar Tarmale, Amit Kumar, Praful Hinge, Krains Fuletra, Liam Livingstone, Shivam Mavi, Jack Edwards
Delhi Capitals
Nitish Rana, Abishek Porel, Ajay Mandal, Ashutosh Sharma, Axar Patel, Dushmantha Chameera, Karun Nair, KL Rahul, Kuldeep Yadav, Madhav Tiwari, Mitchell Starc, Sameer Rizvi, T Natarajan, Tripurana Vijay, Tristan Stubbs, Vipraj Nigam, David Miller, Ben Duckett, Auqib Nabi, Pathum Nissanka, Lungi Ngidi, Sahil Parakh, Prithvi Shaw, Kyle Jamieson
Gujarat Titans
Shubman Gill (c), Sai Sudharsan, Kumar Kushagra, Anuj Rawat, Jos Buttler, Nishant Sindhu, Washington Sundar, Glenn Phillips, Arshad Khan, Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Ishant Sharma, Gurnoor Singh Brar, Rashid Khan, Manav Suthar, Sai Kishore, Jayant Yadav, Ashok Sharma, Jason Holder, Tom Banton, Prithvi Raj Yarra, Luke Wood
Mumbai Indians
Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Ryan Rickleton, Robin Minz, Raj Bawa, Raghu Sharma, Mitchell Santner, Corbin Bosch, Naman Dhir, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, Allah Ghafanzar, Ashwani Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Will Jacks, Sherfane Rutherford, Mayank Markande, Shardul Thakur, Quinton de Kock, Danish Malewar, Mohammad Izhar, Atharva Ankolekar, Mayank Rawat
Punjab Kings
Prabhsimran Singh, Priyansh Arya, Shreyas Iyer, Shashank Singh, Nehal Wadhera, Marcus Stoinis, Azmatullah Omarzai, Marco Jansen, Harpreet Brar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Musheer Khan, Pyala Avinash, Harnoor Pannu, Suryansh Shedge, Mitchell Owen, Xavier Bartlett, Lockie Ferguson, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Yash Thakur, Vishnu Vinod, Cooper Connolly, Ben Dwarshuis, Pravin Dubey, Vishal Nishad
Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Rajat Patidar (c), Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Phil Salt, Jitesh Sharma, Krunal Pandya, Swapnil Singh, Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Jacob Bethell, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Nuwan Thushara, Rasikh Salam, Abhinandan Singh, Suyash Sharma, Venkatesh Iyer, Jacob Duffy, Satvik Deswal, Mangesh Yadav, Jordan Cox, Vicky Ostwal, Vihaan Malhotra, Kanishk Chouha
PREVIOUS WINNERS
2008 — Rajasthan Royals
2009 — Deccan Chargers
2010 — Chennai Super Kings
2011 — Chennai Super Kings
2012 — Kolkata Knight Riders
2013 — Mumbai Indians
2014 — Kolkata Knight Riders
2015 — Mumbai Indians
2016 — Sunrisers Hyderabad
2017 — Mumbai Indians
2018 — Chennai Super Kings
2019 — Mumbai Indians
2020 — Mumbai Indians
2021 — Chennai Super Kings
2022 — Gujarat Titans
2023 — Chennai Super Kings
2024 — Kolkata Knights Riders
2025 — Royal Challengers Bengaluru
ODDS
viaTAB, correct as of March 27
Mumbai Indians – 4.60
Royal Challengers Bengaluru – 6.50
Gujarat Titans – 8.00
Chennai Super Kings – 8.00
Punjab Kings – 9.00
Sunrisers Hyderabad – 10.00
Kolkata Knights Riders – 11.00
Delhi Capitals -12.00
Lucknow Super Giants – 14.00
Rajasthan Royals – 15.00
