Mitchell Santner
Mitchell Santner. Image Courtesy: Getty Images

Chennai Super Kings dealt a massive blow after Mitchell Santner got ruled out of the IPL due to a knee injury.

The New Zealand all-rounder was in great form, but the injury has ruled him out for six to nine months. Apart from IPL, he will also miss the county season.

IPL 218: CSK to Name Mitchell Santner's Replacement After Consulting Fleming & Dhoni
Mitchell Santner will be out of action for six to nine months. (Photo credit should read MARTY MELVILLE/AFP/Getty Images)

He has also not been named in New Zealand Test squad due to the same issue.

Santner became the first player to be ruled out of IPL 2018, and now Chennai will have to find a suitable replacement for him.

The franchise has the luxury of having enough time to decide his replacement.

Read More  KKR Playing 11 vs RCB- IPL 2024, Match 10

As per CSK officials, a final decision will be taken by Stephen Fleming (Head Coach) and MS Dhoni (Captain) on Santner’s replacement,

“It is too early to decide now. We will take a call on the replacement for Santner in due course after consulting with the head coach (Stephen Fleming) and captain (MS Dhoni),” a CSK official told PTI.

Looking at the pitch of Chennai, the franchise might look to rope in like to like player, i.e. a spin bowling all-rounder.

Th team has openers in the form of Shane Watson, Murali Vijay, Sam Billings and Chaitanya Bishnoi and a star studded-order as well, which includes Dhoni, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina etc.

Chennai Super Kings, IPL Auction Ratings, IPL 11, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Bengaluru, Richard Madley,
Chennai Super Kings have star players in their ranks. Photo Credit: IPL/BCCI.

Ravindra Jadeja and Karn Sharma are two spin bowling all-rounders, and Harbhajan Singh is also handy with the bat. On some occasions, he had promoted himself to number three in the batting order in the past.

So, it may not be compulsory that it (franchise) would only look for a spin bowling all-rounder only. Someone like Martin Guptill, who performed well in the T20I tri-series, can also be viewed at.

As the official said, the final decision on the matter will be taken in consultation with Head Coach and the Captain.

The franchise is expected to kick off preparations for the upcoming IPL season in the last week of the month and before that, it might callup Santner’s replacement.

Read More  Babar Azam goes to war with Pakistan Cricket Board!! Skips the Army Camp in Kakul

Chennai Super Kings face Mumbai Indians in the opening game of the season on April 7 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The franchise is making a comeback to IPL after serving a ban for two years.

Chennai Super Kings: MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Faf du Plessis, Harbhajan Singh, Dwayne Bravo, Shane Watson, Kedar Jadhav, Ambati Rayudu, Imran Tahir, Karn Sharma, Shardul Thakur, N Jagadeesan, Deepak Chahar, KM Asif, Kanishk Seth, Ngidi, Dhruv Shorey, M Vijay, Billings, Mark Wood, Kshitiz Sharma, Monu Kumar, Chaitanya Bishnoi.

Here is the news feed –

Four players who can replace Mitchell Santner

Four players who can replace Mitchell Johnson