4 CSK players of IPL 2025 who were earlier in PBKS ft. Ravichandran Ashwin 

In a desperate attempt to arrest their side of three consecutive defeats, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) enter the New Chandigarh Stadium to play against the Punjab Kings (PBKS). It will be a double header on Tuesday (April 8), with the PBKS vs CSK match scheduled to start at 7:30 pm IST.

As mentioned above, CSK are on a stuttering track ready to plunge down. The opening woes and not-so-fiery middle-order are major reasons for CSK's three successive losses. They are ninth on the IPL 2025 points table.

Punjab, meanwhile, will look to correct their hoodoo of not winning in Mullanpur. In their previous game, they were thoroughly outplayed by the Rajasthan Royals (RR), with PBKS facing their first defeat of the season.

CSK will have to pull up their socks when facing the fourth-placed PBKS unit. Fascinatingly, they do have some players who have been part of PBKS' camp previously. As the two teams take on each other, we look at four current CSK players who have previously played for Punjab.

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#4 Deepak Hooda (2020-2021)

Deepak Hooda played for four different franchises before CSK signed him for Rs 1.70 crore at the IPL 2025 mega auction. After a poor spell with the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), Hooda's stocks went down before PBKS snapped him for Rs 50L.

He spent two years (2020 and 2021) with the franchise and was decent during his time. His best performance with Punjab came in his team's opening match of IPL 2021 when Hooda slammed 64 off 28 balls. But the rest of the tournament was a letdown for him, scoring just 160 runs at 16.0 in the entire tournament.

Before the mega auction in 2022, Hooda was let go by PBKS. His next stint came with the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), who signed him for Rs 5.75 crore.

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#3 Nathan Ellis (2021-2024)

Nathan Ellis for the Punjab Kings [Getty Images]

Here comes the only Australian player on the list. Nathan Ellis had a breakout Big Bash League (BBL) 2020/21 and took a T20I hat-trick on his international debut. Then, Punjab Kings made a shrewd signing in 2021 when they replaced injured Riley Meredith and Jhye Richardson with Ellis.

Ellis went on to play four seasons with the franchise, taking 18 wickets across 16 games. Majorly, he used to warm the bench, with the franchise preferring the X-factor of Kagiso Rabada. But when he got the opportunity, Ellis operated at an economy of just 8.6.

Now, he's found a new home at CSK, with the five-time champions signing him for Rs 2 crore.

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#2 Sam Curran (2019 & 2023-2024)

Sam Curran for PBKS and Ruturaj Gaikwad for CSK at the toss [Getty Images]

The Punjab Kings (PBKS) splashed an exorbitant amount of money on Sam Curran. Back in 2019, he was their costliest player, getting signed for Rs 7.2 crore. Fascinatingly, PBKS let him go despite a decent season.

Then, Curran grabbed all the headlines when he was bought for a whopping Rs 18.5 crore before IPL 2023. Unfortunately for PBKS, his performances weren't as big as his paycheck.

In the two seasons with them, Curran took 26 wickets but his economy never came down below 10. With the bat, he had seasons of 276 and 270, but at a combined strike rate of below 130. When Shikhar Dhawan got injured, Curran also captained PBKS for a total of 11 matches, taking the franchise to five wins.

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#1 Ravichandran Ashwin (2018-2019)

Ravichandran Ashwin for the Punjab Kings (PBKS) at IPL 2019

Ravichandran Ashwin was tested as a captain during his two years at the Punjab Kings, then known as Kings XI Punjab. Despite having the likes of KL Rahul, Axar Patel, Chris Gayle, Yuvraj Singh and Aaron Finch, Punjab had disappointing campaigns, finishing eighth and sixth on the points table in 2018 and 2019.

The franchise paid Rs 7.60 crore to sign Ashwin, who captained 28 games. He tasted success 12 times but lost 16 matches. As a bowler, Ashwin was great as usual. He claimed 25 wickets at an economy of 7.67 across 28 games.

Just before IPL 2020, Punjab made a trade deal with the Delhi Capitals (DC), who paid Rs 7.60 crore and sent Jagadeesha Sucith to PBKS in return. Now, as a retired international player, Ashwin is still going strong and is back with CSK, where he spent seven years previously.