Ahead of IPL 2026, injuries to several players have messed up the plans for many franchises. But the teams are not wasting any time in announcing their replacements before the start of the tournament. In the middle of all this, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have brought in Spencer Johnson, Australia’s left-arm fast bowler, to fill the void left by Nathan Ellis.
For CSK, Ellis’ injury is a blow as the 31-year-old Aussie pacer is out of the entire season. A hamstring injury ruled him out of the tournament and forced CSK to look for a replacement in the team. Now they have roped in Spencer Johnson, who is officially joining their squad. Johnson was signed by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) last season. But after KKR released him, nobody picked him up at the 2026 auction.
Spencer Johnson’s IPL journey up to now has been a bit topsy-turvy. His IPL saga commenced with Gujarat Titans in 2024. They shelled out ₹10 crore for him. But the Aussie pacer failed to live up to the price tag. He scalped just 4 wickets in 5 games. So the Titans let him go after that season. At the mega auction in 2025, KKR grabbed him for ₹2.8 crore. Still, he didn’t manage to shine in that season, either.
So far, Johnson has played 9 matches in the IPL and taken only 5 wickets. His economy rate is 10.39, which isn’t exactly great, and his best figure clocks 2 wickets for 25 runs. Overall, he has struggled to make a real mark in the league. But now the CSK fans will hope things will change this season.
It must be noted that Spencer Johnson chose IPL over playing in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) this year. He was supposed to light up for Quetta Gladiators in the PSL 2026 season. But he pulled out, citing personal reasons to chase the IPL opportunity instead. He’s not the first to do this, as Dasun Shanaka from Sri Lanka and Blessing Muzarabani from Zimbabwe made the same call before him.
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