Chennai Super Kings have signed Australia’s left-arm pacer Spencer Johnson as a replacement for Nathan Ellis ahead of IPL 2026. Ellis has been ruled out of the tournament after aggravating an old hamstring injury during the domestic One-Day Cup final on March 11. Johnson comes in at a price of INR 1.5 crore.
Johnson Returns After long Injury layoff
The 30-year-old Johnson has not played top-flight cricket since last year’s IPL, where he suffered a back injury. That setback kept him out of the Big Bash League and the 2026 T20 World Cup. He has represented Australia in five ODIs and eight T20Is and has played 71 T20s overall.
Johnson has previous IPL experience too. He was a surprise buy at the 2024 auction, going for INR 10 crore to Gujarat Titans after entering at a base price of just INR 50 lakh. He picked up four wickets in five matches that season. In 2025, Kolkata Knight Riders bought him for INR 2.80 crore, but he managed just one wicket in four matches.
KKR released him before the 2026 auction, and he went unsold. He had also signed with Quetta Gladiators for PSL 2026 but pulled out citing personal reasons.
CSK’s pace options for the season
Ellis had been retained by CSK for INR 2 crore before the last auction, even though he played only one game for them in 2025. With Johnson now in the squad, CSK’s overseas pace lineup includes Matt Henry, Jamie Overton, and Zak Foulkes.
On the Indian side, the pace options are Khaleel Ahmed, Anshul Kamboj, Gurjapneet Singh, and Mukesh Choudhary, along with allrounders Shivam Dube and Aman Khan.
