The Chennai Super Kings will lock horns with their arch-rival Mumbai Indians in Match 44 at MA Chidambaram Stadium on 2nd May 2026.
CSK has fumbled from the start of the tournament. Although there have been glimpses of brilliance in the later matches, their biggest win was against MI by 103 runs. They are currently positioned sixth in the points table with three wins from eight matches played. CSK is coming to the game with a loss against GT.
Mumbai Indians, on the other hand, have been in grave danger the entire season, not only with an unbalanced squad but also with questionable captaincy. MI have just won two games out of eight matches played and are positioned at the bottom of the table. MI is also coming to the game with a loss against SRH by 6 wickets.
In the recent MI vs CSK, CSK made history by achieving a 103-run victory in Wankhede Stadium. Sanju Samson’s Unbeaten 101* took CSK’s total to 207/6, and Akeal Hosein’s four-wicket haul bowled MI out at 104.
MI’s Predicted Playing XI against CSK
Top Order : Will Jacks, Ryan Rickelton(wk), Naman Dhir
MI experimented with a new opening pair against SRH last match, although they lost the game, but their new opening pair Will Jacks and Ryan Rickelton had a good outing in the 22 yards. Rickeltopn played a blistering innings of 123 not out in just 55 balls registering the highest individual score in history of MI. Rohit Sharma as usual has been a big miss for the team and will be missing more games due to injury. Naman Dhir had a decent season though with 50 and 45 scores but in last few games he sems to be out of touch.
Middle Order : Surya Kumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya(c)
This could have been one of the strongest middle order in IPL but lack of form from this Indian trio has effected Mumbai a lot this season. Surya Kumar Yadav has been in a disappoi ting form ever since T20 World Cup Campaign, averaging just 17.8 in IPL this season with his highest being 36 against CSK. Although Tilak Varma had a spark with a century this season but his inconsistency with only 24 average is disappointing. Hardik Pandya’s captaincy is too under scrutiny this season by fans and cynics.
Bowlers: Shardul Thakur, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah, Ashwani Kumar, AM Ghazanfar
Another weak link in MI’s lineup has been their bowling. Both Bumrah and Boult, the lead pacers, have only 2 wickets each. The only positive has been AM Ghazanfar, the Afghanistan Spinner who has 10 wickets to his name.
Mumbai Indians playing 11 (probable): Ryan Rickelton (w), Will Jacks, Naman Dhir, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya (c), Robin Minz, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah, AM Ghazanfar, Ashwani Kumar
Impact players: Mayank Rawat, Raghu Sharma, Shardul Thakur, Kris Bhagat
