Australian pacer Spencer Johnson, who pulled out of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2026 a few days ago due to personal reasons, has now joined the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season. The development was confirmed by the five-time champions on Tuesday. Johnson will join the franchise as the replacement for the injured Nathan Ellis.
The left-arm pacer will join CSK for INR 1.5 Crore as a replacement for Ellis. Johnson, who has played 13 international games – 5 ODIs and 8 T20Is – for Australia & has 18 international wickets against his name, has previously represented Gujarat Titans (GT) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in IPL.
Johnson was scheduled to play for the Quetta Gladiators in the PSL 2026 edition; however, he pulled out of the tournament on March 15 due to personal reasons.
The 30-year-old is the latest overseas star to ditch the PSL for the IPL 2026 season. Earlier, Blessing Muzarabani and Dasun Shanaka had pulled out of their deals in the Pakistan Super League at the last minute after being named as replacement players by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and the Rajasthan Royals.
PCB to take action
A few days back, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Mohsin Naqvi had threatened legal action against the international players ditching the PSL at the last minute after getting a gig in the IPL. Last year, the PCB initiated legal proceedings against South African pacer Corbin Bosch after he joined the Mumbai Indians as a replacement player. He was then banned by the PCB for one year from playing in the PSL.
“We will take action against those players according to the rules. There was a case last year too, and the same thing will happen this time,” Naqvi told reporters on March 22.
“Clashing with the IPL is not an issue because if players are going there, we’re getting excellent players coming here as well. We could not afford to postpone the PSL because we have no other window all year,” he added.
The PSL 2026 season will start on March 26, two days before the 19th edition of the IPL.
