CSK vs PBKS: Why are Chennai Super Kings playing with only Two Foreign Players Today?

Chennai Super Kings are up against Punjab Kings in match seven of IPL 2026 today at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

After a defeat in the first match against the Rajasthan Royals, the CSK team will be hoping to bounce back into winning ways in front of their home supporters.

The toss took place in Chennai and Punjab Kings Captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and elected to bowl first, which means that CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad and Sanju Samson will be coming out to bat.

CSK playing with Two Overseas Players

As the lineups have been announced, it shows that CSK have gone with just two overseas players in their starting 11, as Noor Ahmad and Matt Henry are the only foreign players in that list.

Jamie Overton and Matthew Short have been placed in the Impact Player Bench, but they can use maximum one of them if they want to during the match.

CSK vs PBKS: Why are Chennai Super Kings playing with Two Foreign Players?

Team combination is the likely reason why CSK are moving forward with just two overseas players in their playing 11 today. As CSK have bought some young Indian youngsters, they have opted to give them an opportunity in this match. Although due to the impact player rule, any of the two benched overseas players can come in and join the action, it is likely that they may opt for another Indian option with the likes of Rahul Chahar and Gurjapneet Singh in the ranks.

CSK vs PBKS Playing 11 and Impact Players

Chennai Super Kings (CSK): Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Sanju Samson (wk), Ayush Mhatre, Shivam Dube, Kartik Sharma, Sarfaraz Khan, Prashant Veer, Noor Ahmad, Khaleel Ahmed, Anshul Kamboj, Matt Henry

CSK Impact Players - Jamie Overton/Rahul Chahar/Gurjapneet Singh/Ramakrishna Paul/Matthew Short

Punjab Kings (PBKS): Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Cooper Connolly, Shreyas Iyer (c), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Xavier Bartlett, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Vijaykumar Vyshak

PBKS Impact Players - Priyansh Arya/Harpreet Brar/Praveen Dubey/Vishnu Vinod/Suryansh Shedge