Hardik Pandya won the toss and opted to bowl in the first EL Clasico of IPL 2026. He was also happy to go with the same team that beat Gujarat Titans three days ago, which meant the injured Rohit Sharma was still not ready to return to action. Chennai Super Kings confirmed one change but it wasn’t the one everyone wanted. MS Dhoni remains on the sidelines. This is the first ever MI vs CSK game without either Rohit or Dhoni.

Both captains wanted to bowl in this clash of the five-time champions. Ruturaj Gaikwad said Prashant Veer has been brought in for Matt Short though the team sheet had Kartik Sharma in the XI and not Veer. Hardik thought the pitch “looks green but it plays pretty well.”

MI and CSK both occupy spots near the bottom of the table, their style of play coming under criticism. Gaikwad has come under serious pressure as well with his runs drying up and his captaincy yielding four losses in six games. He has had to deal with the loss of several key players to injury, including Mumbai boy Ayush Mhatre and new-ball bowler Khaleel Ahmed.

MI XI: 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Naman Dhir, 3 Suryakumar Yadav, 4 Tilak Varma, 5 Hardik Pandya (capt), 6 Sherfane Rutherford, 7 Mitchell Santner, 8 Krish Bhagat, 9 Jasprit Bumrah, 10 AM Ghazanfar, 11 Ashwani Kumar

Impact Player options: Will Jacks, Raj Bawa, Shardul Thakur, Danish Malewar, Mayank Rawat

CSK XI: 1 Ruturaj Gaikwad (capt), 2 Sanju Samson (wk), 3 Sarfaraz Khan, 4 Dewald Brevis, 5 Shivam Dube, 6 Kartik Sharma, 7 Jamie Overton, 8 Anshul Kamboj, 9 Noor Ahmad, 10 Gurjapneet Singh, 11 Mukesh Choudhary

Impact Player options: Prashant Veer, Matt Short, Matt Henry, Akeal Hosein, Urvil Patel