Sanju Samson, adjudged Player of the Tournament in the recently concluded T20 World Cup 2026, was traded in by Chennai Super Kings from the Rajasthan Royals ahead of the season in exchange for the duo of Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran.

With talismanic wicketkeeper-batter MS Dhoni missing out for the first two weeks of the campaign with a calf strain, Samson looked well set to fill the tactical void. However, he didn’t have the best of starts in the side’s opening game, scoring merely six runs before Nandre Burger of Samson’s former side Rajasthan Royals accounted for his wicket.

Samson’s second challenge will be to go up against a confident-looking Shreyas Iyer’s Punjab Kings.

While this is the first time Samson will be donning the yellow jersey in front of the home crowd at M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, it will be his sixth IPL game at this venue.

Historically, Samson hasn’t had the best of performances with the bat at this ground, averaging merely 11.80 and scoring 59 runs in five games. The overall dot ball percentage is also 38.9 per cent, with bowlers having managed to invite 14.5 false shots every 100 balls played.

His scores paint a sorry picture as well. His highest score in the IPL at this venue has been 26, which came in 2015 during his first stint with RR. Post that, he scored eight runs in 2019, a duck in 2023, and 25 runs spread across two innings in 2024.

Come Friday, CSK fans will hope Chetta’s jinx at Chepauk is finally laid to rest.

Published on Apr 03, 2026