Dangerous decision for CSK: Injured Spencer Johnson replaces injured Nathan Ellis

New Delhi: Spencer Johnson replaces injured Nathan Ellis for 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL) chennai super kings (CSK) caused quite a stir. Johnson’s signing as a backup was a bit of a mystery.The 30-year-old was earlier signed by Quetta Gladiators of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) but pulled out of the game citing personal reasons. Days later, he joined the five-time IPL champions for a fee of 15 crore rupees ($160,000). Interestingly, Johnson’s PSL salary is higher than his IPL contract as his contract with Gladiators is worth around PKR 56 million (approximately Rs 1.87 billion or US$ 200,000).

A day after he made the official announcement, CSK on Wednesday announced on X that the left-arm fastman will join the team between April 21 and 23. The exact reason is unclear. TimesofIndia.com contacted CSK Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Kasi Viswanathan but did not get an answer multiple times.Johnson has not played any competitive cricket since playing for Kolkata Knight Riders in the last IPL. KKR acquired his services for Rs 280 crore and the lanky pacer played four games and picked up just one wicket. He was later released ahead of the 2026 mini-auction.Former Australian fast bowler and current South Australia coach Ryan Harris provided an update on Johnson on the eve of the Sheffield Shield final against Victoria.“Spencer kind of bounced around a little bit,” Harris said, referring to his exit from the PSL and then joining the IPL.“I think four or five days ago he got some good news about his back,” Harris said. “The crack in his back has finally healed. He’d had a frustrating eight to 10 months. So the good news is he’s back bowling again. He began to regain his strength again.“IPL, I think there might be a chance. We are still waiting to see what happens there. Obviously, he has to bowl some before he returns to competitive cricket. So we are working on that.“But it’s great to see Spencer playing cricket again. He’s obviously had some bad luck in the last two years.”

Johnson has played five ODIs and eight T20Is for Australia and is currently recovering from a back injury.Harris also revealed that the pacer has resumed bowling, but it is currently just over half pace and he is working on modifying his action to stay healthy.“We’ve been doing this since he was able to turn his arm,” Harris said.“We just tweaked a few things and he did really well. He had a bowl the day before. I wasn’t there but I watched some of the videos. We knew exactly what he was trying to achieve and tried to straighten him up a bit and take the pressure off his back.“But he is doing very well. He feels that although his delivery rate is only about 60 per cent, the ball is moving well. As we speak, he is bowling more and trying to build up fitness. The focus now is to get enough bowling load into his body to enable him to bowl.”

Only time will tell if the Australian fastman reaches his peak form when he joins the CSK franchise, but it is curious that the IPL franchise replaced one injured player with another.TimesofIndia.com has learned that the supply of available players has taken a hit as several cricketers who were unsold in the IPL mini-auction are currently playing in the PSL.Johnson becomes the third player after Zimbabwe’s Blessing Muzarabani and Sri Lanka’s Dasan Shanaka to snap up an IPL contract despite being signed by the PSL. However, with Bangladeshi players not being considered and IPL teams not willing to pick players from league countries, the franchise is trying to find replacements.CSK will kick off their IPL 2026 season on March 30 against Rajasthan Royals in Guwahati.