Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have been compounded with more injury worries as Australian all-rounder Matthew Short is likely to miss the first few games of IPL 2026 due to a thumb fracture, as reported by Cricbuzz. The Super Kings are yet to release an official statement on his injury and an injury as serious as the thumb factor could also rule Short out of the tournament.
Nathan Ellis’ injury comes as a major setback for the Chennai Super Kings
Earlier, it had emerged that Australian seamer Nathan Ellis would most likely be ruled out of the season due to an old hamstring injury getting aggravated while playing in the domestic One-day Cup final held on March 11. Playing for Tasmania, the 31-year-old took figures of 5-1-26-2 but it came in a losing cause as the New South Wales prevailed in a low-scoring encounter by four wickets, chasing down 119. The five-time champions are yet to announce his replacement but the Yellow Army still have Matt Henry, Jamie Overton, Zak Foulkes, Khaleel Ahmed, Anshul Kamboj, Gurjapneet Singh and Mukesh Choudhary in their ranks.
— Cricbuzz (@cricbuzz) March 20, 2026
For Short, it will be his second IPL team, having previously featured for the Punjab Kings. The hard-hitting opener fetched ₹1.50 crore.
The Super Kings will open their IPL 2026 campaign against the Rajasthan Royals on March 30, Monday in Guwahati.
Chennai Super Kings create an unwanted record in IPL 2025
For the second consecutive season, the Super Kings could not qualify for the playoffs and finished at the bottom of the points table. Additionally, it was the first time that the Super Kings had finished at the bottom of the points table, managing only four wins in 14 matches. Although the Rajasthan Royals also had only four wins in as many fixtures, the inaugural IPL champions had a superior net run-rate.
The Yellow Army will hope that the high-profile signing of Sanju Samson brings in rich returns. They will be chuffed, given the Kerala-born keeper-batter’s returns in T20 World Cup 2026, headlined by his nerveless knocks in all three knockout matches, playing an integral role in India’s historic title win. Although Samson starts off his IPL seasons strongly, his form tapers off towards the end of the season. The five-time champions will hope it is not the case this time around. Notably, the Super Kings also broke their bank for batter Kartik Sharma and all-rounder Prashant Veer, a clone of Ravindra Jadeja, shelling out ₹14.20 crore for them.
