Chennai : The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) face off against Punjab Kings (PBKS) after starting their campaign with a disappointing loss by 8 wickets against Rajasthan Royals (RR) at RR’s home ground. CSK will play their first home match of the Indian Premier League 2026 season (Match 7) and host PBKS at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium (Chepauk) in Chennai on April 3 at 7:30 PM.
CSK suffered from injuries even before the league started, which affected their pace bowling attack. Just before the league, MS Dhoni, the mascot player of CSK, also got injured due to a calf issue and will not play for the first two weeks. Against RR, CSK’s batting lineup was easily destroyed and got all out for just 127 runs in 19.4 overs. Not only the batting, but the team also needs to improve its overall performance to face PBKS. Sanju Samson looked quite upset and scored only 6 runs off 7 balls in his debut match for CSK, and fans missed his ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 form. Youngster Ayush Mhatre also got out for a duck in the last match. Their bowling attack, led by Matt Henry and Noor Ahmad, will need to bounce back after being dominated in the RR opener. The team will definitely miss the guidance of MS Dhoni in this situation. They need to reset and bounce back in the league.
On the other side, last year’s finalists PBKS started their campaign with a great win against Gujarat Titans (GT). The team came into this season with a few changes in the squad, which showed a strong impact in their match against GT, including a great contribution from Cooper Connolly. The team looks well-balanced in both bowling and batting under the strong leadership of Shreyas Iyer. In IPL history, CSK have faced PBKS 32 times, with both teams winning 16 matches each.
PBKS Squad:
Shreyas Iyer, Nehal Wadhera, Vishnu Vinod, Harnoor Pannu, Pyla Avinash, Prabhsimran Singh, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Harpreet Brar, Marco Jansen, Azmatullah Omarzai, Priyansh Arya, Musheer Khan, Suryansh Shedge, Mitch Owen, Cooper Connolly, Ben Dwarshuis, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Yash Thakur, Xavier Bartlett, Pravin Dubey, Vishal Nishad, Lockie Ferguson.
Predicted Playing XI (PBKS):
Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Priyansh Arya, Cooper Connolly/Nehal Wadhera, Shreyas Iyer (c), Marcus Stoinis, Shashank Singh, Azmatullah Omarzai, Harpreet Brar, Marco Jansen, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal.
CSK Squad:
Ruturaj Gaikwad, MS Dhoni, Sanju Samson, Dewald Brevis, Ayush Mhatre, Kartik Sharma, Sarfaraz Khan, Urvil Patel, Jamie Overton, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Prashant Veer, Matthew Short, Aman Khan, Zak Foulkes, Shivam Dube, Khaleel Ahmed, Noor Ahmad, Anshul Kamboj, Mukesh Choudhary, Shreyas Gopal, Gurjapneet Singh, Akeal Hosein, Matt Henry, Rahul Chahar, Spencer Johnson.
Predicted Playing XI (CSK):
Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Sanju Samson (wk), Ayush Mhatre, Matthew Short, Shivam Dube, Kartik Sharma, Prashant Veer, Jamie Overton, Noor Ahmad, Matt Henry, Khaleel Ahmed.
For this match, the pitch is expected to be spin-friendly, leading to a low to mid-scoring contest. The weather will be hot and humid, with temperatures around 30–34°C. There is almost no chance of rain, so a full match is expected without interruptions. It will be interesting to see how CSK make a comeback in the league and how PBKS carry forward their momentum.
