Dr. Iyappan Ponnuswamy, Medical Director, Kauvery Hospital, Dr. Aravindan Selvaraj, Co-founder and Executive Director of Kauvery Group of Hospitals and Dr. S. Sivaram Kannan, Clinical Lead & Chief Consultant Physician, Kauvery Hospital, with K.S. Viswananthan, MD, Chennai Super Kings at the function to announce the tie-up as an official partner.
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Special Arrangement

Chennai Super Kings suffered a big blow ahead of the IPL 2026, with Nathan Ellis set to be ruled out of the competition. The 31-year-old Australian fast bowler has suffered a hamstring injury and won’t recover in time.

“It is a big blow for us. Ellis is a crucial bowler, especially in the death overs. We are looking at replacements,” said CSK CEO K.S. Viswanthan to The Hindu on Thursday during an event to announce Kauvery Hospitals as an official partner of the team.

The hospital’s medical director Dr. Iyappan Ponnuswamy, Dr. Aravindan Selvaraj, co-founder and executive director, and Dr. S. Sivaram Kannan, clinical lead & chief consultant physician, were present on the occasion.

The loss of Ellis could force a major rethink of plans for the Ruturaj Gaikwad-led outfit.

Since 2022, the team had relied on Matheesha Pathirana as the death-overs specialist, but released the Sri Lankan pacer after a disappointing campaign last year.

Meanwhile, Viswanathan also said that the foreign recruits will join the camp in the next few days. He said the recent West Asia crisis, which has affected major airline hubs in the UAE and Qatar, hasn’t significantly affected the travel plans of their overseas recruits.

Noor Ahmad has already arrived, while Jamie Overton was expected to reach Chennai by Thursday tonight.

The likes of Dewald Brevis, Matt Henry, Zack Foulkes and Matthew Short will join by March 22, while Akeal Hosein will join on the 25th.

Meanwhile, Sanju Samson, the star of India’s victorious T20 World Cup campaign, arrived in the city on Thursday to join the pre-season camp.

The five-time champion made one of the biggest trade deals in the IPL last year when it traded in Samson from Rajasthan Royals for Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran.

The Super Kings, including their star player M.S. Dhoni, have been training in the city since March 1, initially at its High Performance Centre and currently at the MAC Stadium. They could also have an intra-squad game on March 23.