RR vs CSK in IPL 2026: Samson & Jadeja debut for new teams; No MS Dhoni in Guwahati

Sanju Samson is among the four debutants in Chennai Super Kings’ (CSK) opener against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in IPL 2026 in Guwahati on Monday (Mar 30). While MS Dhoni remains absent from the scene, as he continues to recover from the calf strain he suffered in training earlier, former CSK all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja is also among the new faces for the Royals. RR captain Riyan Parag won the toss and elected to field first after rain delayed the toss by five minutes. Check out the two teams for the third game of IPL 2026.

Playing XI of both teams –

CSK - Sanju Samson(w), Ruturaj Gaikwad(c), Ayush Mhatre, Matthew Short, Shivam Dube, Kartik Sharma, Jamie Overton, Noor Ahmad, Matt Henry, Anshul Kamboj and Khaleel Ahmed

CSK’s Impact Subs - Sarfaraz Khan, Prashant Veer, Rahul Chahar, Gurjapneet Singh, Ramakrishna Ghosh

RR - Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Riyan Parag(c), Dhruv Jurel(w), Shimron Hetmyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Sandeep Sharma, Ravi Bishnoi, Brijesh Sharma

RR’s Impact Subs - Donovan Ferreira, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Ravi Singh, Sushant Mishra, Tushar Deshpande

Here’s what the two captains said at the toss –

Riyan Parag, Rajasthan Royals skipper -

“There's rain. There'll be rain even though it's a red-soil pitch. Captaincy feels nice, seeing the transition from a 17-year-old to now, my peers have been supportive. The goal is to win the championship. We've tried to have smart cricketers, all-rounders with the auction and the trades. Burger, Archer, Ferreira and Hetmyer are our overseas players.”

Ruturaj Gaikwad, Chennai Super Kings skipper -

“No brainer to bowl first due to the rain and conditions. We saw how the last year went for us, so we thought we'll go into the auction with a strategy. Buy players into the team and the culture, hope it works. Short, Overton, Noor and Henry are our overseas players. Seven batters playing, if we get a good start, the impact sub will come in later.”

No MS Dhoni in Guwahati

Veteran gloveman MS Dhoni stayed back in Chennai to complete his rehab after suffering a calf strain in training ahead of his side’s tournament opener. While CSK’s official statement stated that Dhoni would be out for two weeks, the latest report suggests that he would be on the sidelines for at least until the end of April, missing six matches.