Johnson has played in the IPL before, representing Gujarat Titans and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in 2024 and 2025, respectively. He was a big surprise buy during the accelerated round towards the end of the 2024 auction, going for INR 10 crore to Titans having entered the auction at a base price of INR 50 lakh. He picked up four wickets in five matches that season, and in the 2025 season, where KKR bought him for INR 2.80 crore, he took one wicket in four matches. He was released by KKR ahead of the 2026 auction, where he went unsold.

Ellis, meanwhile, 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.

Including Johnson, CSK’s overseas fast-bowling contingent now includes 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.