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NEW DELHI: Chennai Super Kings suffered an early injury scare in their must-win IPL 2026 clash against Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, as wicketkeeper Sanju Samson was forced to leave the field after injuring his finger while keeping wickets.The incident occurred in just the second over of the innings during Spencer Johnson’s spell to Sai Sudharsan. Johnson fired one well down the leg side and Samson put in a full-length dive to stop the ball, but it suddenly changed direction and struck him on the fingers. The delivery eventually resulted in five wides — a boundary plus the extra run for the wide.Samson received immediate attention from the physio before deciding to walk off the field.Urvil Patel then took over wicketkeeping duties as Samson’s substitute behind the stumps.Earlier, Chennai Super Kings won the toss and opted to bowl first against Gujarat Titans.CSK made two changes to their playing XI, bringing in Matt Short for Prashant Veer and Gurjapneet Singh in place of Akeal Hosein.Gujarat Titans, meanwhile, made one change, with Prasidh Krishna replacing Sai Kishore.GT came into the contest placed second on the points table with 16 points from 13 matches and are aiming to seal a top-two finish with a win over Chennai Super Kings at home.Meanwhile, Chennai Super Kings are sixth on the table with 12 points from 13 matches and nearly out of the playoff race. CSK need a massive win against GT, along with favourable results in other matches, to keep their slim qualification hopes alive.Teams:Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Sanju Samson (wk), Urvil Patel, Dewald Brevis, Shivam Dube, Matt Short, Anshul Kamboj, Noor Ahmad, Spencer Johnson, Mukesh Choudhary, Gurjapneet Singh.Gujarat Titans: Shubman Gill (c), B Sai Sudharsan, Jos Buttler (wk), Nishant Sindhu, Washington Sundar, Jason Holder, Rashid Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Kagiso Rabada, Arshad Khan, Mohammed Siraj.
