The third match of the Indian Premier League 2026 will witness a blockbuster clash as Chennai Super Kings are set to clash with Rajasthan Royals at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati on Monday. After finishing at the bottom of the IPL 2025 standings, both franchises have made sweeping changes. The most eye-catching move of the offseason was the high-profile swap between Sanju Samson and Ravindra Jadeja. Samson’s move to Chennai brings fresh energy and batting firepower into CSK, while Jadeja’s arrival at Rajasthan will bring enormous experience.

At Rajasthan, the leadership has been given to Riyan Parag. He will now have the responsibility to lead a revamped squad. Meanwhile, Chennai sees the return of Ruturaj Gaikwad as captain after his injury-hit 2025 campaign. The legendary MS Dhoni, however, may not feature in the opening phase of the season due to a calf injury. The iconic figure is expected to miss the opening phase of the tournament. Further adding to CSK’s early challenges, South African batter Dewald Brevis is set to miss the opening match.

However, they have other players like Sanju Samson, Ayush Mhatre, Matt Short and Shivam Dube to bank on for runs. Looking at Rajasthan Royals, their biggest weapon heading into IPL 2026 is their pace attack. With the return of Jofra Archer and support from Nandre Burger and Adam Milne, they have a terrific bowling unit. Above all, both teams would hope to get off to a great start.

Head-to-head

Matches - 31

RR won - 15

CSK won - 16

Rajasthan Royals possible XII: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Riyan Parag (c), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Donnovan Ferreira, Jofra Archer, Ravi Bishnoi, Tushar Deshpande, Sandeep Sharma, Nandre Burger

Chennai Super Kings possible XII: Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Sanju Samson (wk), Ayush Mhatre, Matt Short, Shivam Dube, Kartik Sharma, Prashant Veer, Akeal Hosein, Noor Ahmad, Matt Henry, Khaleel Ahmed, Anshul Kamboj