Chennai Super Kings players arrived at the crease in black armbands during their IPL 2026 clash against Mumbai Indians on Thursday. It was the first time CSK and MI had met in the league this season, and the contest—often labelled the “El Classico” of franchise cricket—took on added significance as it marked the first IPL encounter without Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni in the playing XI.
The CSK side wore the black bands in tribute to Mukesh Choudhary, a CSK pacer whose mother passed away on Tuesday following a year-long battle with illness. In a message shared on social media, the franchise dedicated the gesture to Mukesh’s family, stating that the armbands were worn in her memory and as a show of support, while the team aimed to play with extra heart. Earlier on Thursday morning, CSK also posted that the wider CSK family mourned the loss, standing with Mukesh and his loved ones and keeping them in its thoughts and prayers during a difficult period.
Mukesh Choudhary was named in CSK’s XI for the match.
On the field, Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya won the toss and chose to bowl first against Chennai Super Kings. MI also stuck with the same playing XI from their previous outing. Rohit Sharma, however, was absent again, missing his third straight match due to a hamstring problem.
For Chennai Super Kings, MS Dhoni’s return is still some way off, with the wicketkeeper-batter continuing his recovery from a calf strain and not featuring in any IPL 2026 match so far.
Playing XIs
Mumbai Indians: Hardik Pandya (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Naman Dhir, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Sherfane Rutherford, Mitchell Santner, Jasprit Bumrah, Krish Bhagat, AM Ghazanfar and Ashwani Kumar.
Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Sanju Samson (wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Dewald Brevis, Shivam Dube, Kartik Sharma, Jamie Overton, Noor Ahmad, Anshul Kamboj, Gurjapneet Singh and Mukesh Choudhary.
