Sanju Samson walked off injured in the second over on May 21 as Chennai Super Kings faced Gujarat Titans in the 66th match of IPL 2026, a blow that interrupted CSK’s chase for a place in the playoffs. Samson hurt his finger while trying to collect a wide ball off Spencer Johnson, then left the field after speaking with the team physio.
Urvil Patel took over wicket-keeping duties after Samson departed, while CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad had won the toss and opted to field first. CSK also made two changes to their playing XI, bringing in Gurjapneet Singh and Matt Short for Akeal Hosein and Prashant Veer.
The injury mattered because CSK needed to beat GT to keep their playoffs hopes alive, and a defeat would end their tournament there and then. GT had already qualified for the playoffs, which made the match even sharper for a side under pressure to stay in contention.
Samson had been CSK’s most productive batter in the tournament, with 477 runs in 13 games, including two centuries and one half-century. That form had made him central to Chennai’s campaign, and his departure stripped the side of both its wicketkeeper and its leading run-scorer in a match they could not afford to lose.
GT, meanwhile, kept control of the contest through the top of the innings as Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan added 125 runs for the opening stand, both reaching half-centuries. For CSK, the damage was not only physical but immediate: a key player was out of the field, the pressure of a do-or-die game was rising, and the margin for error had already disappeared.
