Khaleel Ahmed has been ruled out of the IPL 2026 with an injury, a major blow to the Chennai Super Kings' campaign. The star pacer suffered a quadriceps injury during CSK's last game against Kolkata Knight Riders in Chennai on April 14, and is now reported to miss the action for 10 to 12 weeks.

The left-arm pacer has suffered a grade 2 tear and will miss the remainder of the IPL 2026 campaign. Khaleel Ahmed has picked up just two wickets in five innings this season, but he boasts the best economy rate among CSK pacers after five games. His economical spells in the powerplay have been crucial to the team's resurgence in the last two matches.

Ruturaj Gaikwad-led CSK's campaign was hit by injuries before the season began. They played their first three games of the season without Dewald Brevis and their first five without club veteran MS Dhoni. Super Kings won their last two matches to overcome their poor start to the season.

Khaleel Ahmed's injury stretches out CSK's bowling attack

CSK lost their premier pacer, Nathan Ellis, to injury before the start of the campaign. His replacement, Spencer Johnson, is still recovering and not available to bowl until the SRH game. Matt Henry has been poor so far this season, while the likes of Jamie Overton and Anshul Kamboj are yet to make an impact in powerplay.

Matt Henry is likely to be slotted back in CSK's playing eleven due to the lack of pace bowling options. The Kiwi pacer has taken two wickets in three innings at an economy rate of 13.00 this season. Zakary Foulkes is another option available if the five-time champions look for a new face to replace Khaleel Ahmed.

Left-arm medium pacer Mukesh Choudhary and right-arm pacer Ramakrishna Ghosh are also part of CSK's squad, but both Maharashtra bowlers haven't played competitive cricket since the end of the 2025-26 domestic season.

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

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