Soon after Dhoni’s exit, former India cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin, who has also represented CSK in the past, picked his strongest playing XI with impact player options for the five-time champions.Ashwin’s selection sanju samson As a wicketkeeper-batsman, he was also named as the opening batsman along with captain Ruturaj Gaikwad.The former CSK player placed three attacking batsmen next – Urvil Patel at No. 3, Dewald Brevis at No. 4, followed by India’s T20 World Cup 2026 all-rounder Shivam Dubey at No. 5.Ashwin provided two options for the No. 6 spot – Sarfaraz Khan was his first choice, with India’s U19 World Cup-winning captain Ayush Mhatre as his alternate. He ignored Prashant Veer and chose Karthik Sharma for number 7.In the bowling department, Ashwin chose Akeal Hosein and Noor Ahmed as the main spinners, with Hosein also offering batting depth at No. 8.For the pace attack, he went with Matt Henry and Khalil Ahmed. Ashwin also listed four impact player options – Anshul Kamboj, Shreyas Gopal, Ramakrishna Ghosh and Rahul Chahar.Ashwin’s CSK playing XI:Sanju Samson (wk), Ruturaj Gaikwad (captain), Urvil Patel, Dewald Brewis, Shivam Dubey, Sarfaraz Khan/Ayush Mhatre, Karthik Sharma, Akeal Hosein, Noor Ahmed, Matt Henry, Khalil AhmedImpact Player: Anshul Kamboj/Shreyas Gopal/Ramakrishna Ghosh/Rahul ChaharCSK will begin their IPL 2026 campaign against Rajasthan Royals on March 30 at the Baraspara Stadium in Guwahati.The 19th edition of the tournament is set to begin on Saturday, with defending champions Royal Challengers Bangalore hosting Sunrisers Hyderabad at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.