Chennai Super Kings’ hopes of making a late dash to the IPL 2026 playoffs have suffered another significant setback with allrounder Jamie Overton returning to England due to a right thigh injury.
CSK have signed South African allrounder Dian Forrester as a replacement for Overton, at a cost of INR 75 lakh. Forrester, 25, has played five T20 internationals for South Africa, having made his debut in March this year. He was also part of the Joburg Super Kings squad for the 2025-26 SA20.
“Forrester will join in Chennai. He’s making the trip to India as we speak,” CSK coach Stephen Fleming said on the eve of their game against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in Lucknow. “It’s unlucky. A couple of boys came into the competition with niggles. (Ramakrishna) Ghosh was one of those who we were nursing through and then he had a fall, so that was unfortunate. Jamie plays the game at 100 miles an hour, so bowling 150 [kph] and batting, there’s a chance…Just unfortunate for us at this time. [Ayush] Mhatre’s hamstring as well, we’re not doing anything to put strain on these guys. It’s one of those things but we’re certainly not turning a blind eye to it. We’re working very hard on recovery.”
“Jamie Overton has a right thigh injury and will be returning to the UK for further assessment and management,” CSK had earlier said on social media on Wednesday night.
Overton posted on his Instagram story: “Gutted to be heading home early before the job’s done.”
Overton is currently CSK’s second highest wicket-taker this season with 14 wickets at an average of 17.78 and economy rate of 8.89. He was the Player of the Match for taking 3 for 36 in CSK’s previous game, a five-wicket victory against LSG at Chepauk on May 11.
Hours before the Overton news emerged, CSK had announced they had signed Karnataka allrounder Macneil Noronha as a replacement for the injured fast bowler Ramakrishna Ghosh, who suffered a broken foot on his IPL debut.
They had also lost fast bowler Nathan Ellis to a hamstring injury before IPL 2026 began, and then lost left-arm quick Khaleel Ahmed (quadricep injury) and No. 3 batter Ayush Mhatre (hamstring injury) during the season. Middle-order batter Dewald Brevis had missed the first three games of the season, all of which CSK lost, with a side strain, and MS Dhoni and Australian quick Spencer Johnson are yet to play a match in IPL 2026.
Despite severe injury troubles, CSK are fifth in the points table with 12 points after 11 games and are still in the running for the playoffs. Their next game is an away fixture against Lucknow Super Giants on Friday.