Cricket’s El Clásico won’t be the biggest clash of them all in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026. The two most successful captains for the Mumbai Indians (MI) and the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni, won’t be featuring in the match at the Wankhede Stadium.
No Dhoni, Karik Sharma returns
Dhoni hasn’t played a game in IPL 2026 after sustaining a calf injury in the pre-season training camp. However, some reports had suggested that he might be fit for the MI vs CSK match. Forget being match-fit, Dhoni didn’t even come to the ground for the game.
CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad announced one change, with Kartik Sharma coming in for injured Ayush Mhatre. The wicketkeeper had played 3 matches before he was dropped from the team, but has been brought back as Sarfaraz Khan moves to number three.
CSK Playing XI vs MI
Sanju Samson (wk), Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Sarfaraz Khan, Dewald Brevis✈️, Shivam Dube, Kartik Sharma, Jamie Overton✈️, Noor Ahmad✈️, Anshul Kamboj, Gurjapneet Singh, Mukesh Choudhary
Impact Subs: Prashant Veer, Matthew Short✈️, Matt Henry✈️, Akeal Hosein✈️, Urvil Patel (wk)
No Rohit Sharma or Will Jacks
In a rather perplexing move, MI hasn’t added Will Jacks to the team. They’ve stuck with the same team, with Danish Malewar going into the subs list as they bat second. Rohit did train with the team, but wasn’t part of the match routines. His hamstring injury hasn’t improved, and he’s now missed 3 matches.
MI Playing XI vs CSK
Quinton de Kock (wk)✈️, Naman Dhir, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya (c), Tilak Varma, Sherfane Rutherford✈️, Mitchell Santner✈️, Jasprit Bumrah, Krish Bhagat, Allah Ghazanfar✈️, Ashwani Kumar
Impact Subs: Will Jacks✈️, Raj Bawa, Shardul Thakur, Danish Malewar, Mayank Markande
