With the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is going to commence in the upcoming weekend, and the teams have started off with their penultimate preparations. The upcoming edition will also witness the comeback of one of the most loved franchises, Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) into the pool. Both the team will be returning after a 2-year break following their involvement in a betting scandal.

However recently, CSK suffered a severe blow as New Zealand spinner Mitchell Santner was ruled out for the season due to a knee injury. Santner, who was bought for ₹50 lakh in the IPL players auction in January, was expected to be a crucial player for the yellow in blue. The two-time champions will be without the services of R Ashwin, who has been appointed as the new skipper of Kings XI Punjab for the upcoming season.

WATCH – CSK Players Recreates The “Kaala’ Trailer

Despite Santner’s injury, the CSK team is not looking for a replacement for the injured player. The spin-bowling all-rounder was tipped to be part of their plans, but with a good mix of spinners around, the team management hasn’t requested for a replacement. 

Thus in his absence, the team under the leadership of MS Dhoni will have Harbhajan Singh and Imran Tahir as the only two reputed spinners in the squad with Ravindra Jadeja set to play the role of a third spinning option. Karn Sharma is another player who can play a key role for CSK this season.

Also read: Chennai Super Kings (CSK) – The King of the Jungle is Back

On Wednesday, the New Zealand cricket informed that Santner will undergo a knee surgery which means he will miss out on the upcoming Test series against England followed by the IPL 2018. As per the reports, Santner could be out of cricketing action for six to nine months.

Mitchell Santner was recently named in Blackcaps’ Test squad to face England as in the ODI series had performed well with both bat and ball and was becoming an integral member of New Zealand’s young side led by Kane Williamson.