Spencer Johnson has not played a competitive game since last year’s IPL. NEW DELHI: The announcement of Spencer Johnson as a replacement for the injured Nathan Ellis in the 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL) by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) has created quite a stir. There was a bit of mystery surrounding Johnson’s signing as a backup.The 30-year-old had earlier signed with Quetta Gladiators in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) but withdrew from the tournament due to personal reasons. A few days later, he joined the five-time IPL champions for Rs 1.5 million ($160,000). Interestingly, Johnson’s PSL salary was higher than his IPL deal as he was contracted to the Gladiators for around PKR 56 million (about ₹1.87 million or $200,000).
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CSK is organizing a fan engagement event in Chepauk ahead of IPL 2026A day after his official announcement, CSK posted on X on Wednesday that the left-arm quick will join the team between April 21 and 23. The reason remains unknown. TimesofIndia.com reached out to Kasi Viswanathan, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of CSK, but several calls went unanswered.Johnson has not played any competitive cricket since the last IPL where he featured for Kolkata Knight Riders. KKR acquired his services for Rs 2.80 crore and the lanky pacer played four matches and took only one wicket. It was later released before the 2026 mini-auction.An update on Johnson was provided by former Australian fast bowler Ryan Harris, who is currently coach of South Australia, on the eve of the Sheffield Shield final against Victoria.“Spencer is bouncing around a bit,” Harris said, referring to his exit from the PSL and then joining the IPL.“He got good news about his back four or five days ago,” Harris said. “The crack in his back is finally healing. He’s had a pretty frustrating eight to 10 months. So the good news is he’s back bowling. He’s building again.”“IPL, I think there could be an opportunity. We’re still waiting to see what happens there. He obviously has to bowl a bit before he gets back to competitive cricket. So we’re working on that as we speak.”“But it would be good to see Spence playing cricket. He’s obviously been unlucky in the last two years.”
He feels that although he is only driving at about 60%, the ball is coming out nicely. Bowling more and trying to build. Now it’s about getting enough bowling load into the body to perform.
Ryan Harris | Coach of South Australia
Johnson, who played five ODIs and eight T20Is for Australia, is recovering from a back injury.Harris also revealed that the pacer has resumed bowling but is currently working at just over half-pace and is working on adjusting his action to stay fit.“We’ve been doing it since he could flip his arm over,” Harris said.“We just tweaked a few things and he’s doing really well. He had a bowl the day before yesterday. I wasn’t there, but I checked some video. We were very aware of what he was trying to accomplish, trying to straighten him out a little bit and take the pressure off his back.”“But he’s done really well. He feels that even though he’s only going at about 60%, the ball is coming out nicely. As we speak, he’s bowling more and trying to build up. Now it’s about getting enough bowling load into his body to play.”
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Is it a wise decision for CSK to replace Nathan Ellis with another injured player?
Only time will tell if the Aussie quick will reach peak fitness by the time he joins the CSK team, but it is strange that the IPL team has replaced an injured player with another injured player.TimesofIndia.com has learned that the supply of available players has been affected as several cricketers who did not sell in the IPL mini auction are currently playing in the PSL.Johnson became the third player after Zimbabwe’s Blessing Muzarabani and Sri Lanka’s Dasun Shanaka to sign IPL contracts despite being contracted in the PSL. However, with Bangladeshi players out of the question and IPL teams reluctant to pick players from associate countries, franchises are scrambling to find a replacement.CSK will begin their IPL 2026 campaign on March 30 against Rajasthan Royals in Guwahati.
