“Who will come in place of Khaleel Ahmed?” – Aakash Chopra Comments On CSK’s Bowling Option Ahead Of IPL 2026 Match vs SRH

Former India player Aakash Chopra has added that finding a replacement for pacer Khaleel Ahmed would be one of the questions for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) before their IPL 2026 match against the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH). He shared that the five-time champions might also want to address their batting depth issue with that selection as well.

However, CSK will take on SRH in the 27th game of IPL 2026 in Hyderabad on Saturday, April 18. Both teams have four points from five games so far, with the home team placed three places higher at fifth in the points table due to a superior net run rate.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, ‘Aakash Chopra,’ he said, “Who will come in place of Khaleel Ahmed? Whom will you select in this game? Will you get Mukesh Choudhary in his place, or will you want to get Ghosh because your batting is ending at No. 7? Jamie Overton shouldn’t be at No. 7. He is a No. 8 batter. It hasn’t made a difference thus far, but it possibly can.”

“You want to complete a hat-trick of wins. You want to do what GT have done. You need to stitch those victories together, but Ruturaj Gaikwad’s form, that’s a question for sure, because Ayush Mhatre is breathing down his neck,” he shared.

‘Shivang Kumar is bowling very well’ – Aakash Chopra

However, Aakash Chopra also wondered whether the SunRisers Hyderabad could add Liam Livingstone in their playing combination against the Chennai Super Kings as well.

“There is only one thing for Hyderabad. Can you think about Liam Livingstone because they are constantly playing with three overseas players? Travis Head, Heinrich Klaasen, and Eshan Malinga play there. So Livingstone could be the fourth, or Dilshan Madushanka is available now,” he stated.

“You can think about him, though they now have Praful Hinge and Sakib Hussain. That’s good news there. The focus used to be on Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan, Heinrich Klaasen, and Nitish Kumar Reddy earlier. The focus has shifted slightly to the two new kids, who took center stage in the previous game. Shivang Kumar is bowling very well. I see him being used well in the middle,” Aakash Chopra concluded.