'I see Sanju Samson playing at No. 3' - Former India coach picks CSK's batting order ahead of IPL 2026

Published - 16 Mar 2026, 14:38 IST | Updated - 16 Mar 2026, 15:09 IST

Former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar believes that Ruturaj Gaikwad should open for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) during the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) season, adding that the right-handed batter's best performances have come while batting at the top of the order.

The five-time champions traded Sanju Samson into their squad from the Rajasthan Royals, letting go of Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran. Samson is India's opening batter in T20I cricket and won the Player of the Tournament award in the recently concluded T20 World Cup. However, Bangar opined that Samson should bat at No. 3, with Ayush Mhatre opening the batting with CSK skipper Gaikwad.

In the middle-order, Bangar picked Dewald Brevis at No. 4, and either Shivam Dube or Kartik Sharma at No. 5. Dube played some blistering knocks for India in the T20 World Cup. Meanwhile, Kartik Sharma is an explosive wicketkeeper, who CSK signed for a whopping INR 14 crore at the IPL 2026 mini-auction.

"Ruturaj Gaikwad should bat at the top of the order only. Last year, they tried to separate Devon Conway and Ruturaj Gaikwad so that the entire cream isn't at the top. However, that thought process didn't give them success. Ruturaj Gaikwad has played his best cricket at the top of the order," the former India all-rounder said during a discussion on Star Sports.

"He plays very well there, and Ayush Mhatre plays with him. I see Sanju Samson playing at No. 3. Dewald Brevis will play at No. 4. Either Shivam Dube or Kartik Sharma can come at No. 5. As regards adopting a new approach, I feel this team has a lot of might in the batting department," he added.

Bangar believes that CSK's newly-recruited leg-spinner Rahul Chahar would get the opportunity to play all the matches in the impending season.

"There is another change in CSK's thought process. They have never used an Indian leg-spinner much. Here, Rahul Chahar might get to play all the matches. So two wrist-spinners, a left-arm wrist-spinner and Rahul Chahar from the other end. Rahul Chahar has excellent variety, and he can also come down the order and play a few big shots," he said.

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While CSK do have a strong spin-bowling attack, Bangar noted that the Men in Yellow also have some formidable fast bowlers in their line-up.

"It looks like a good bowling unit as well, where you have two proper overseas fast bowlers who specialize in phases. Matt Henry bowls well with the new ball and Nathan Ellis bowls well at the death. Khaleel Ahmed provides the left-arm angle. So you see a strong bowling unit. If Prashant Veer plays, you will have three proper spinners and three proper fast bowlers," Bangar elaborated.