NEW DELHI: The announcement of Spencer Johnson as a replacement for the injured Nathan Ellis for the 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL) by the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) has created quite a stir. There had been a bit of mystery surrounding Johnson’s signing as a reserve player.
The 30-year-old was earlier signed by Quetta Gladiators in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) but withdrew from the tournament due to personal reasons. A few days later, he joined the five-time IPL champions for Rs 1.5 million (US$160,000). Interestingly, Johnson’s PSL salary was higher than his IPL contract as he was signed to the Gladiators for approximately PKR 56 million (around ₹1.87 crore or $200,000).
A day after his official announcement, CSK published on X on Wednesday that the quick left-hander will join the team between April 21 and 23. The reason is still unknown. TimesofIndia.com contacted Kasi Viswanathan, chief executive officer (CEO) of CSK, but several calls remained unanswered.
Johnson has not played any competitive cricket since the last IPL, where he featured for Kolkata Knight Riders. KKR had acquired his services for Rs 2.80 crore and the lanky player played four matches and got just one wicket. He was later released before the 2026 mini-auction.
Former Australian fast bowler Ryan Harris, who is currently South Australia’s coach, provided an update on Johnson ahead of the Sheffield Shield final against Victoria.
“Spencer is jumping around a bit,” Harris said, referring to his exit from the PSL and then the IPL.
“He got some good news, I think four or five days ago, on his back,” Harris said. “Finally, the crack in his back healed. He’s had a pretty frustrating eight or ten months. So the good news is he’s back to bowling. He’s getting back on his feet.
“IPL, I think there could be a chance. We’re still waiting to see what happens there. He obviously has to bowl quite a bit before he gets back to competitive cricket. So we’re working on that as we speak.
“But it would be nice to see Spence playing cricket again. He’s obviously been unlucky in the last couple of years.”
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Johnson, who has played five ODIs and eight T20Is for Australia, is recovering from a back injury.
Harris also revealed that the pacer has returned to bowling but is currently performing at just over half pace and is working on modifying his action to stay fit.
“We’ve been doing that since he was able to swing his arm,” Harris said.
“We’ve been tweaking a couple of things and he’s doing very well. The day before yesterday he took a bowl. I wasn’t there, but I reviewed some videos. We’ve been very aware of what he’s trying to accomplish, trying to straighten him out a little bit and take some pressure off his back.
“But he has done very well. He feels that even though he is only going at 60%, the ball is coming out well. As we speak, he is bowling more and trying to develop. Now it is about having enough bowling load on his body to allow him to play.”
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Only time will tell if the quick Australian will reach his peak fitness when he joins the CSK squad, but it is curious that an IPL team has replaced an injured player with another injured player.
TimesofIndia.com has learned that the supply of available players has been affected as several cricketers who were not sold in the IPL mini-auction are currently playing in the PSL.
Johnson became the third player after Zimbabwe’s Blessing Muzarabani and Sri Lanka’s Dasun Shanaka to land IPL deals despite being contracted in the PSL. However, with Bangladeshi players not considered and IPL teams reluctant to pick players from partner nations, franchises are struggling to find replacements.
CSK will open their IPL 2026 campaign on March 30 against Rajasthan Royals in Guwahati.