Star Chennai Super Kings batter Dewald Brevis has been ruled out of the marquee clash against Punjab Kings in the ongoing IPL 2026. He is dealing with a side strain during training and didnโt participate in CSKโs opening game against Rajasthan Royals. However, the South Africa international was expected to return to the playing XI against PBKS, but he did not seem to have recovered from the injury just yet. He was, however, seen playing football during the warm-up, indicating that he is on track to gain full fitness soon.
CSK make one change to playing XI
Chennai have made just one change to their playing XI against PBKS. Matt Short, who struggled to prove his mettle in the clash against Rajasthan, has been dropped for young Prashant Veer. He was signed for INR 14.2 crore in the auction. With that, he became the third youngest cricketer to make his debut for CSK at the age of 20 years and 130 days.
PBKS opt to ball
Punjab have won the toss and elected to bowl first at the MA Chidamabaram Stadium. Chennai, however, wasnโt too bothered with that. Captain Ruturaj Gaikwad explained that the wicket is on the drier side and it wonโt change much. So, the goal for CSK is to put runs on the board and then try to defend it.
โWell, I think, you know, for me it looks a bit on the drier side. And I don’t think so it will change too much. More often than not, it will remain the same. And, you know, it’s the early part of the April, so I don’t think dew will be a key factor in the second inning. So I think, runs on the board and definitely you can depend on this track,โ Gaikwad said.
Chennai Super Kings (Playing XI): Sanju Samson (wk), Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Ayush Mhatre, Sarfaraz Khan, Shivam Dube, Kartik Sharma, Prashant Veer, Noor Ahmad, Anshul Kamboj, Matt Henry, Khaleel Ahmed
Punjab Kings (Playing XI): Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Cooper Connolly, Shreyas Iyer (c), Shashank Singh, Nehal Wadhera, Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Xavier Bartlett, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal