Sanju Samson or Kartik Sharma! Who will keep wickets for CSK against RR in IPL 2026 clash?
Sanju Samson and Kartik Sharma are both part of CSK’s playing XI against RR.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are facing Rajasthan Royals (RR) in their opening game of Indian Premier League 2026 on Monday, March 30. Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Gauwahati is hosting the match three of the cash-rich league.
RR captain Riyan Parag won the toss and chose to bowl first in the match. Notably, wicket-keeper MS Dhoni was ruled out of the encounter due to calf strain. He is expected to take two weeks for recovery.
In Dhoni’s absence, the Ruturaj Gaikwad & Co. went in with two keepers in Sanju Samson and Kartik Sharma. Samson joined CSK ahead of IPL 2026 through a trade deal with RR. Hence, he made his debut for the Men-in-Yellow in the clash against RR.
Kartik Sharma made his IPL debut in the encounter. He was bought by the franchise for INR 14.20 crore in the mini-auction.
Sanju Samson to keep the stumps for CSK against RR in IPL 2026
Notably, Samson will keep the stumps for Chennai Super Kings in the match. Kartik has been picked as a pure batter. Moreover, Samson also opened the batting with Ruturaj Gaikwad.
However, he flopped on his CSK debut, getting out for six runs off seven runs. He was dismissed by pacer Nandre Burger in the second over.
Meanwhile, CSK suffered a top-order collapse in the clash against RR. They lost both openers Samson and Gaikwad for six runs each, while one-down Ayush Mhatre was gone for a duck. Till the Powerplay, Chennai lost four batters. Till the 10th over, they lost six batters with 74 runs on the board.
Who is the wicket-keeper for CSK in the clash against RR in IPL 2026?
Sanju Samson is the wicket-keeper for CSK against RR.
Who opened the batting for CSK against RR?
Sanju Samson and Ruturaj Gaikwad opened the batting for CSK.
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Vikas Singh Derek is a core cricket-lover since childhood and has always followed the sport both in his personal and professional life. He started his school life by watching cricket at home with family. Later, he played cricket on the field at local clubs during college. After his Master's in Journalism from Mumbai, he followed his passion by covering cricket news across various digital media. Since 2015, he has been an aspiring sports journalist and cricket content writer with over 50K+ articles.