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Five-time champions Chennai Super Kings will be desperate to stay in the playoff hunt when they face a struggling Lucknow Super Giants in their IPL 2026 encounter at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Sunday.

With the league stage reaching a decisive phase, CSK sit sixth on the points table and remain in contention for a top-four finish despite an inconsistent campaign marked by both impressive wins and costly batting collapses.

A return to Chepauk could boost CSK’s chances as they take on an LSG side languishing at the bottom and already on the brink of elimination.

CSK’s batting this season has largely revolved around Sanju Samson, who has emerged as the team’s mainstay at the top. Captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, after a slow start, found form with unbeaten knocks of 74 and 67 earlier this month, though he faltered in the previous outing against Delhi Capitals, where Samson’s unbeaten 87 sealed the win.

The middle order — featuring Dewald Brevis, Kartik Sharma, Jamie Overton and Shivam Dube — will need to step up, especially in the death overs, to provide the finishing push.

Veteran MS Dhoni remains sidelined with a calf injury sustained before the season. Despite training in the nets, he is yet to feature in the playing XI.

Unlike its traditionally slow nature, the Chepauk surface this season has offered better batting conditions while still aiding spinners, which could bring Akeal Hosein and Noor Ahmad into play during the middle overs.

LSG, meanwhile, have endured a disappointing season, managing just three wins in 10 matches. Captain Rishabh Pant has struggled for consistency, though he showed glimpses of form with a quickfire 32 off 10 balls against Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

A major positive for LSG was Mitchell Marsh’s explosive 111 off 56 balls in their recent win over RCB, ending a six-match losing streak and keeping their faint playoff hopes alive.

Nicholas Pooran will be key in the middle overs, while the bowling unit, led by Mohammed Shami, has received support from Prince Yadav, Shahbaz Ahmed and Digvesh Singh Rathi. However, injuries to Josh Inglis and Mohsin Khan have further dented their campaign.

Squads:

Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Dewald Brevis, MS Dhoni, Urvil Patel, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Ayush Mhatre, Shreyas Gopal, Jamie Overton, Khaleel Ahmed, Anshul Kamboj, Gurjapneet Singh, Mukesh Choudhary, Noor Ahmad, Akeal Hosein, Prashant Veer, Matthew Short, Sarfaraz Khan, Matt Henry, Rahul Chahar, Zakary Foulkes, Spencer Johnson, Kartik Sharma, Aman Khan.

Lucknow Super Giants: Rishabh Pant (c & wk), Abdul Samad, Akshat Raghuvanshi, Ayush Badoni, Mukul Choudhary, Himmat Singh, Josh Inglis (wk), Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Arshin Kulkarni, George Linde, Mitchell Marsh, Shahbaz Ahmed, Akash Singh, Avesh Khan, Mohammed Shami, Mohsin Khan, Anrich Nortje, Prince Yadav, Digvesh Rathi, Manimaran Siddharth, Arjun Tendulkar, Naman Tiwari, Mayank Yadav.