Five-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will begin their IPL 2026 campaign with a match against Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati on Monday, March 30. CSK, who finished last in 2025, will be without the services of MS Dhoni for two weeks due to a calf strain. Nathan Ellis has also been ruled out and has been replaced by Spencer Johnson.

CSK retained 16 players ahead of the IPL 2026 mini-auction in Abu Dhabi, including four overseas cricketers. At the auction, they purchased nine players. Surprisingly, the uncapped duo of Kartik Sharma and Prashant Veer (₹14.20 crore each) were their biggest buys. They also purchased Rahul Chahar for ₹5.20 crore and Matt Henry and Akeal Hosein for ₹2 crore each.

Ahead of CSK’s opening IPL 2026 match against RR in Guwahati, we pick three bowling combinations the franchise can try out in the T20 league.

Combination 1: Khaleel Ahmed, Matt Henry, Mukesh Choudhary, Rahul Chahar and Noor Ahmad

CSK can go in with three pacers and two spinners – two left-arm fast bowlers in Khaleel Ahmed and Mukesh Choudhary and an overseas right-arm pacer in Matt Henry. Khaleel was a key member of the team last season, claiming 15 wickets in 14 matches at an average of 29.80 and an economy rate of 9.57. He can prove expensive at times, but is a wicket-taker.

Choudhary played only a couple of matches last season, but having retained him for IPL 2026, CSK can give him another go and see what he has to offer. Seasoned New Zealand pacer Henry will be crucial for the franchise with the new ball. Like Jacob Duffy, he can make a significant impact with the ball in the powerplay, given his ability to pick up early wickets.

Leg-spinner Rahul Chahar and left-arm wrist-spinner Noor Ahmad feature as the two spinners in combination no. 1 for CSK. Chahar only played one match for SRH last season and bowled just one over. He has been underwhelming in recent seasons. However, if he can rediscover his rhythm with the ball in hand, the 26-year-old can still prove to be a potent weapon for the Chennai franchise.

Afghanistan spinner Noor was among the few positives for CSK last season in what was an otherwise disastrous campaign. He finished as the second-leading wicket-taker in the season, with 24 wickets from 14 matches at an average of 17 and an economy rate of 8.16. Noor bamboozled opposition batters with his variations and ended up with two four-wicket hauls.

Combination 2: Khaleel Ahmed, Anshul Kamboj, Rahul Chahar, Noor Ahmad and Akeal Hosein

CSK can also try a spin heavy combination, with three slow bowlers (two overseas) and two Indian pacers, leaving out Henry. In this bowling arrangement, Khaleel and Anshul Kamboj could be the pacers, while Rahul and Noor would be joined by West Indies left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein. The addition of Hosein would also strengthen the batting as he can contribute in the lower order.

Kamboj had a reasonable IPL 2025 campaign for CSK. In eight matches, he claimed eight wickets at an average of 21.50 and an economy rate of eight. The right-arm pacer shone with figures of 3-13 from 2.3 overs against Gujarat Titans (GT) in a match played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Hosein has been touted as Ravindra Jadeja’s replacement in the Chennai camp. He has played only one match in the IPL so far. However, the left-arm spinner is a canny bowler, who has claimed 93 scalps in 96 T20Is for the West Indies, averaging 26.12 at an economy rate of 7.42.

Combination 3: Matt Henry, Gurjapneet Singh, Prashant Veer, Noor Ahmad and Akeal Hosein

CSK could also try out another two pacers-three spinners combination in IPL 2026, with left-arm pacer Gurjapneet Singh joining Henry in the fast bowling department and left-arm spinner Prashant Veer being picked along with Noor and Hosein.

Gurjapneet, who was ruled out of IPL 2025 due to injury, has claimed 21 scalps in 15 T20s, averaging 24.38 at an economy rate of 9.25. As for Veer, the all-rounder impressed with both bat and ball in the Uttar Pradesh Premier League 2025. He claimed eight scalps in 10 matches at an economy rate of 6.69. With the bat, he chipped in with 320 runs at a strike rate of 155.34.