“This injury will require a minimum of three months of rehab for the Australian before he is fit to bowl in match conditions again,” Chennai Super Kings (CSK) said in a statement on their website.
Ellis, 31, had been retained for INR 2 crore (US$ 215,000 approx.) by CSK before the last IPL auction although he had played only one game for them in 2025. Overall, he has featured in 17 IPL matches, 16 of them for Punjab Kings (PBKS) from 2021 to 2024.
Ellis, Tasmania’s captain, had bowled five overs in the rain-hit One-Day Cup final against New South Wales in Hobart, returning 2 for 26, and is understood to have affected the old injury in the process. Tasmania lost the final by four wickets.
With Ellis likely to miss out, CSK’s overseas fast-bowling contingent is Matt Henry, Jamie Overton and Zak Foulkes, and the Indians in the mix are Khaleel Ahmed, Anshul Kamboj, Gurjapneet Singh and Mukesh Choudhary, apart from allrounders Shivam Dube and Aman Khan as the pace-bowling options.
The CSK social media handles posted on Thursday that their new star player Sanju Samson had joined them earlier in the day.
CSK’s first game of the upcoming IPL is on March 30 when they take on Rajasthan Royals in Guwahati. They will then host PBKS (April 3) and Delhi Capitals (April 11) before going to Bengaluru for the contest against defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru on April 5.
CSK had finished last in IPL 2025 after winning just four out of their 14 games.