Spencer Johnson Is IPL Bound! AUS Seamer Ditches PSL To Join Chennai Super Kings As Nathan Ellis' Replacement

Another day, another jolt for PSL as another overseas cricketer has left the tournament to be a part of the Indian Premier League. The Chennai Super Kings have acquired Spencer Johnson for the IPL 2026 season, replacing the injured Nathan Ellis.

Multiple IPL franchises experienced injury setbacks after some of their players were ruled out of the season or the opening fixtures because of injury or workload management.

With IPL-bound stars being ruled out, Pakistan encountered an immense problem as multiple overseas cricketers ditched PSL to join the Indian Premier League due to enhanced monetary benefits.   

Spencer Johnson Makes IPL Leap from PSL to Join CSK

The IPL has confirmed that the Chennai Super Kings have acquired Spencer Johnson for the upcoming 2026 season. The left-arm pacer will join the five-time champions for INR 1.5 crore and would replace the injured Nathan Ellis.

"Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have picked a player replacement for injured Nathan Ellis for the upcoming TATA Indian Premier League (IPL). Spencer Johnson will join CSK for INR 1.5 Crore as a replacement for Ellis," a statement from the IPL said.

Before changing ships, Spencer Johnson was set to feature in the Pakistan Super League after being picked up by Quetta Gladiators for PKR 5.6 crore. However, the left-arm fast bowler withdrew from the tournament due to personal reasons.

Spencer Johnson becomes the latest cricketer to ditch the PSL and join the IPL ahead of the 2026 season. Earlier, Zimbabwe's Blessing Muzarabani and Sri Lanka's Dasun Shanaka had made the move to join KKR and RR, respectively.

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Spencer Johnson To Reinforce CSK's Pace Line-Up

Spencer Johnson has featured in 13 international matches for Cricket Australia. So far, the left-arm fast bowler has featured in five ODIs and eight T20 Internationals.

The 30-year-old has previously represented the Gujarat Titans and Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL. So far, Spencer has picked up five wickets across nine matches. In the IPL 2026 auction, Johnson had gone unsold.

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Spencer Johnson brings proper reinforcement to the pace unit, which features stars like Jamie Overton, Matt Henry and Khaleel Ahmed.