Sarfaraz Khan has gotten a golden opportunity to find his way back into the Indian team once again in the form of CSK in IPL 2026. After finding no takers in the previous two editions of the tournament, the domestic run-machine from Mumbai was picked up by the five-time champions for Rs 75 lakh. Khan, who broke into the Indian Test setup in 2024, managed to survive for just three series before he once again became out of the favour of selectors and was forced to toil hard in the domestic setup once again.
CSK boast of an unit that consists of more youngsters than veterans for the first-time ever in the history of IPL. Each of these youngsters have claimed their place in the side with consistent performances across formats of the game. This leaves Sarfaraz in a fix. Will he be able to find a spot in a power-packed playing XI in IPL 2026? What are the chances of Khan reviving his career via CSK? Let’s find out.
Should Sarfaraz Khan deserve a place in CSK’s XI?
First, let’s talk about Sarfaraz’s form over the past year, especially in white-ball formats. Luckily for the Mumbai batter, he sustained injuries or was hospitalized majority of the times during the red-ball tournaments. An elbow injury in 2024, a quadriceps injury in 2025, a bone swelling in January 2026 followed by hospitalization due to viral fever in February 2026 all came during red-ball format tournaments. But now, he is fit and has already joined the CSK camp.
Talking about Sarfaraz’s form in domestic white-ball tournaments, he scored 329 runs from 7 matches, averaging 65.80 with a hundred and 3 fifties to his name in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025. He followed it up with 303 runs from 6 matches at an average of 75.75 in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025. While he wasn’t among the leading run-getters in any of the tournaments, Khan’s form was promising, giving some positive signs for CSK ahead of IPL 2026. After all, given the average that he has, it will be hard to keep him out of CSK’s playing XI. But that faces multiple hurdles.
Where will Sarfaraz fit in CSK’s XI?
To start with, CSK’s top-five are more or less fixed – Ayush Mhatre, Sanju Samson, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Dewald Brevis and Shivam Dube. For Sarfaraz to squeeze into the top five is near impossible. If one would think that Khan could play at 6 or below, that too is near impossible as CSK would want one of their Rs 14.20 crore buys Kartik Sharma or Prashant Veer at that position. Besides, there is also an Urvil Patel in the fray.
And there’s MS Dhoni too. So, the chances of Sarfaraz making it to the playing XI looks pretty much bleak. Unless, CSK will want to test their bench strength and give every player an opportunity. But that will happen only if the side gets off to a good start in IPL 2026.
To date, Sarfaraz has featured in 50 IPL matches where he has amassed 585 runs at an average of 22.50. He last played a near-full season way back in 2015.
| Mat | Runs | HS | Ave | SR | 50s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | 585 | 67 | 22.50 | 130.58 | 1 |
CSK squad for IPL 2026
MS Dhoni (wk), Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Sanju Samson (traded in from RR), Ayush Mhatre, Dewald Brewis✈️, Shivam Dube, Urvil Patel, Noor Ahmad✈️, Nathan Ellis✈️, Shreyas Gopal, Khaleel Ahmed, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Mukesh Choudhary, Jamie Overton✈️, Gurjapneet Singh, Anshul Kamboj, Akeal Hosein✈️, Prashant Veer, Kartik Sharma (wk), Matthew Short✈️, Aman Khan, Sarfaraz Khan, Matt Henry✈️, Rahul Chahar, Zak Foulkes✈️
