Chennai Super Kings faced an early injury concern in their must-win IPL 2026 match against Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, after wicketkeeper Sanju Samson was forced to leave the field with a finger injury sustained while keeping wickets.
Key takeaways
- Sanju Samson suffered a finger injury during the second over of Gujarat Titans’ innings while stopping a delivery.
- Urvil Patel replaced Samson behind the stumps after immediate medical attention.
- Chennai Super Kings won the toss and chose to bowl first against Gujarat Titans.
- CSK made two alterations to their XI, including Matt Short and Gurjapneet Singh coming into the side.
- Gujarat Titans entered the game second in the points table with 16 points from 13 matches.
How the injury happened
The incident took place in the second over of the innings during Spencer Johnson’s spell against Sai Sudharsan. Johnson delivered a ball that stayed on the leg-side line, and Samson went for a full-length dive to make the stop.
As Samson tried to gather the ball, it unexpectedly shifted its direction and struck him on the fingers, prompting a sudden stoppage in play. The ball went on to be scored as five wides, with the five-run total including the boundary plus the extra run awarded for the wide.
Samson received quick attention from the physio and, after the assessment, opted to walk off the ground. Urvil Patel was then called in to take over wicketkeeping duties for the remainder of the innings.
Match build-up and team changes
Before the injury incident, Chennai Super Kings had won the toss and decided to bowl first against Gujarat Titans at Ahmedabad.
CSK also reshuffled their lineup with two changes: Matt Short came in for Prashant Veer, while Gurjapneet Singh replaced Akeal Hosein in the playing XI.
Gujarat Titans, meanwhile, made one swap of their own, bringing in Prasidh Krishna for Sai Kishore.
Table context and playing XI details
Gujarat Titans arrived at the contest positioned second in the points standings, having collected 16 points from 13 matches. With a win at home, they looked to strengthen their case for a top-two finish.
Chennai Super Kings were placed sixth, with 12 points from 13 games, leaving them on the edge of the playoff picture. For CSK to keep their qualification hopes alive, they needed a major result against Gujarat Titans along with favourable outcomes elsewhere in the tournament.
Teams:
Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Sanju Samson (wk), Urvil Patel, Dewald Brevis, Shivam Dube, Matt Short, Anshul Kamboj, Noor Ahmad, Spencer Johnson, Mukesh Choudhary, Gurjapneet Singh.
Gujarat Titans: Shubman Gill (c), B Sai Sudharsan, Jos Buttler (wk), Nishant Sindhu, Washington Sundar, Jason Holder, Rashid Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Kagiso Rabada, Arshad Khan, Mohammed Siraj.
