IPL 2026 Dispatch: Samson Makes Much-Awaited 'Dencoming'; Kumble Has Special Advice For Abhishek

For several seasons of Indian Premier League (IPL), MS Dhoni has been dominating storylines and cornering eyeballs before and during the tournament. For the 2026 edition too, his role for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and everything he does before the league kicks off is a matter of overwhelming interest.

ALSO READ: MS Dhoni And IPL: A Beginner's Guide

But there is also a hushed understanding that he cannot keep it going forever. The body only listens for so long, and at 44, is Dhoni's playing career's biggest enemy. In that backdrop, CSK's induction of Sanju Samson was vital. That the Kerala wicketkeeper-batter has become the toast of the nation with his T20 World Cup heroics is a massive cherry on top.

The impact was visible in the way CSK heralded Samson's arrival in Chennai on their socials on Thursday (March 19, 2026), leaving no doubt as to the special love he is getting and will get from fans in the coming season. It was almost akin to a passing of the baton from Dhoni; though nobody can replace the legendary former India captain, Samson is as good a player as the Super Kings could summon to fill that future void.

With that, let us take a look at some of the other major talking points from the IPL 2026 build-up in the past 24 hours.

Curran, Ellis, Ferguson Join Swelling Injury List

Franchises continue to deal with injury setbacks, even before the cash-rich league begins. CSK chief executive officer Kasi Viswanathan told Sportstar on Thursday that Australian pacer Nathan Ellis had been ruled out of the entire tournament with a hamstring injury.

Soon after, news trickled in that Rajasthan Royals' star English all-rounder Sam Curran was set to miss the season with a suspected groin issue. Later in the night, PTI reported that New Zealand fast bowler Lockie Ferguson will also miss the first seven league games for his side Punjab Kings. The last-minute hurdles might not stop here, and have the potential to disrupt teams' plans and team compositions.

IPL Behind The Hundred, SA20?

IPL is the world's most lucrative T20 league by far, but it is not necessarily the 'best', if the World Cricketers’ Association rankings are to be believed. The global players body has pegged the Indian league at third after England's The Hundred and South Africa's SA20 overall, Reuters reported.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India-run 20-over showpiece garnered maximum points for average payment and payment reliability, but lagged in areas such as “right to organise” and “dispute resolution”, the report added. The league came in for criticism in January when left-arm seamer Mustafizur Rahman was dropped by Kolkata Knight Riders ​amid tensions between India and Bangladesh.

Axar, Jemimah Front Delhi Capitals' Jersey Launch

Sticking with their red and blue hues, Delhi Capitals unveiled a new jersey for their IPL 2026 campaign. The centre pattern has changed; it is now a mixture of blue and red strips running from top to bottom which the franchise said "draws inspiration from the fierce tiger spirit that defines both the team and the city it represents".

The campaign film brought together captains from both the men’s and women’s teams, Axar Patel and Jemimah Rodrigues. While Rodrigues' impressive first campaign as captain ended in heartbreak in the Women's Premier League 2026 final, Axar would be hoping for better fortune in his second season as skipper.

Kumble Draws Sehwag Parallel For Abhishek

Former India captain and coach Anil Kumble believes explosive opener Abhishek Sharma needs to strike the right balance between aggression and longevity at the crease, much like the inimitable Virender Sehwag did during his career. "I would relate him to someone like Virender Sehwag, because he would look to smash every ball," Kumble said on JioStar.

"When he moved from Test cricket to one-day cricket and then to T20 cricket, he realised that he had to pace his innings slightly differently. But Sehwag would still go at a 140–150 strike-rate. So, that's something Abhishek Sharma needs to start thinking about, saying, 'I’ve been scoring at 200 strike-rate, expectations are on me, should I now go at a strike rate of 300?' No, you just have to be normal. You have to play a number of balls," he added.

Samson Earns Big Praise From Du Plessis, Parag

The admiration for Sanju Samson continues to pour in, several days after his Player of the Tournament performance at the T20 World Cup. Former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis said Samson was arguably the face of Rajasthan Royals (RR), much like MS Dhoni with Chennai Super Kings or Virat Kohli with Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

"If I look at the IPL and the iconic teams we see around the league, all of them have one marquee Indian player in common -- someone who has been the face of the franchise for a period of time, (such as) Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli. Sanju Samson, for me, was that guy at Rajasthan Royals," du Plessis said on Jiostar.

RR's new captain Riyan Parag also waxed eloquent about his former teammate, almost putting him the same league as Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma. “It’s like there is no replacement for Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma, and in the same way, there is no replacement for Sanju bhaiya because he is such a good player,” Parag said in the pre-season media conference in Jaipur.

Buttler Hopes Time Off Will Help Revive Form

England batting titan Jos Buttler has said that spending time away from cricket after a dismal T20 World Cup campaign should put him in good stead as he gears up for a fresh start with the Gujarat Titans. Buttler managed just 87 runs across eight matches at an average of 10.87, with a forgettable strike rate of 116, while opening the batting for England at the World Cup.

"I couldn't have been further away from cricket, which for me at the time was just perfect. It's exactly what I needed," Buttler said on 'For the Love of Cricket' podcast. "Obviously, the tournament didn't go personally how I'd have liked it to go. I just felt like I needed some space (away) from cricket and not to think about the game, and I could not have been further away from cricket where I was in that week," he said.