Neither MS Dhoni nor Rohit Sharma featured in the first ‘El Clasico’ of IPL 2026. Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya, who won the toss and opted to bowl at the Wankhede Stadium, named an unchanged XI from the side that beat Gujarat Titans three days ago, confirming that the injured Rohit was still not ready to return. Chennai Super Kings, meanwhile, made just one change — and it wasn’t the one many were expecting.
Dhoni, who suffered a calf injury ahead of the season, had been spotted batting and keeping at the Wankhede nets on the eve of the match, raising strong expectations of a comeback. However, the wait continued on Thursday, with the veteran not even turning up at the venue on match day.
While the net session had fuelled speculation, CSK bowling coach Eric Simmons had already downplayed the chances of an immediate return.
“MS will only play when he feels he is ready to go and the medical team clears him. I am not going to make any announcement sitting here,” Simmons said in the pre-match press conference on Wednesday.
MI vs CSK LIVE Score, IPL 2026
Like Dhoni, Rohit too had returned to training ahead of the clash after sustaining a hamstring injury during MI’s home game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru on April 12. However, he did not look fully convincing during the sessions.
On Thursday, as MI players went through their warm-up drills, Rohit cut a forlorn figure in the dugout before Pandya confirmed that he would remain unavailable for the game.
Chennai made just one change, bringing in Prashant Veer in place of Matt Short.
Interestingly, the two most successful teams in IPL history — both with five titles each — find themselves in the bottom half of the table this season, with just two wins from six matches so far.
MI XI: Quinton de Kock (wk), Naman Dhir, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya (capt), Sherfane Rutherford, Mitchell Santner, Krish Bhagat, Jasprit Bumrah, AM Ghazanfar, Ashwani Kumar
Impact Player options: Will Jacks, Raj Bawa, Shardul Thakur, Danish Malewar, Mayank Rawat
CSK XI: Ruturaj Gaikwad (capt), Sanju Samson (wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Dewald Brevis, Shivam Dube, Kartik Sharma Jamie Overton, Anshul Kamboj, Noor Ahmad, Gurjapneet Singh Mukesh Choudhary
Impact Player options: Prashant Veer, Matt Short, Matt Henry, Akeal Hosein, Urvil Patel.