Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Hardik Pandya chose to bat first against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at Chepauk. CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad said he would have preferred to bat first as well.

Hardik expected the pitch to play well like it did during the T20 World Cup in February earlier this year, when India smashed 256 for 4 against Zimbabwe, who scored 184 for 6 in reply on this surface. In the most recent IPL game on this pitch, in early April, Punjab Kings (PBKS) chased 210 with more than an over to spare against CSK.

Neither MS Dhoni nor Rohit Sharma had recovered from injury to participate in the IPL’s El Clasico.

MI handed an IPL debut to wristspinner Raghu Sharma and also brought back rookie seamer Krish Bhagat. There was no room for Ashwani Kumar or Shardul Thakur in their XI. Raghu received his cap from Hardik and is likely to slot in as their Impact Sub when they bowl later in the evening.

CSK had an IPL debutant of their own in Ramakrishna Ghosh, a promising allrounder from Maharashtra. His stock ball is the inswinger and can also operate at the death. Left-arm spin-bowling allrounder Prashant Veer returned to the XI. Gurjapneet Singh and Akeal Hosein, who had bagged a four-wicket haul against MI at the Wankhede, made way for them. Sarfaraz Khan or Kartik Sharma is likely to come in from the bench as CSK’s Impact Player when they chase later in the evening. They are playing three overseas players, so Matt Short can also come in.

Chennai Super Kings bowl-first XI: 1 Sanju Samson (wk), 2 Ruturaj Gaikwad (capt), 3 Urvil Patel, 4 Dewald Brevis, 5 Shivam Dube, 6 Jamie Overton, 7 Ramakrishna Ghosh, 8 Prashant Veer, 9 Noor Ahmad, 10 Anshul Kamboj, 11 Mukesh Choudhary

Impact Subs bench: Kartik Sharma, Akeal Hosein, Sarfaraz Kham, Matt Short, Gurjapneet Singh

Mumbai Indians bat-first XI: 1 Ryan Rickelton (wk), 2 Will Jacks, 3 Naman Dhir, 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Tilak Varma, 6 Hardik Pandya (capt), 7 Robin Minz, 8 Krish Bhagat, 9 Trent Boult, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 AM Ghazanfar

Impact Subs bench: Raj Bawa, Raghu Sharma, Mayank Rawat, Shardul Thakur, Ashwani Kumar