NEW DELHI: The buzz around MS Dhoni’s possible appearance was palpable, but the Chennai Super Kings veteran once again stayed on the sidelines as Mumbai Indians secured the better of the moment in their IPL 2026 contest. Mumbai won the toss and chose to field at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday, setting the stage for CSK to bat first in a match billed as a marquee clash. Dhoni has not taken part in IPL 2026 so far, with his absence linked to a calf strain picked up just before the tournament kicked off in late March. With fans having built major expectations ahead of this big fixture, the outcome was the latest reminder that his comeback is still a work in progress.
A day before the match, though, Dhoni did offer a glimpse of his presence at the venue. He was seen lightening the mood around the ground by engaging with camerapersons, members of the ground staff and the wider support crew. During a practice session at Wankhede, Dhoni played around with a robot dog named “Champak,” drawing smiles and attention as the preparations continued.
His training schedule had already shown intent. On Tuesday, Dhoni put in a demanding session, keeping wickets and then switching gears to batting work in the nets. On Wednesday, he started with a brief initial spell before taking a break, before returning later for close to an hour to face throwdown specialists and pace options delivered at speed. Still, for the supporters, the central question remained unresolved—Dhoni’s return to competitive action is yet to arrive.
After winning the toss, Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya explained the thinking behind the decision to bowl first. “We are gonna bowl first. Lot of boxes were ticked, intensity was there, we needed that game where everyone comes in and chips in. There was a conscious effort that intensity is in your hands, we wanted to just have fun and things went our way. It looks green, but it played really well. Same team,” Pandya said, pointing to the match rhythm they were targeting and the condition of the wicket.
CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, meanwhile, confirmed that he made one change to his XI and also addressed the toss decision. “We would have bowled first as well, but it was a 50-50 call. It looks a good wicket and coming here at Wankhede Stadium, you have to bat well irrespective of whether you’re batting first or bowling first. So it is just about putting up a great show even if you’re batting first. We are doing really well. It’s just that we are not able to cash in on a couple of moments. But I think we pulled it back really well during our bowling in the last game. Even batting, we had started off really well. But as I said, it’s just a couple of moments where we have to make sure we cash in and we get that win. But everyone is confident and ready to go,” Gaikwad said.
When asked about the roar of support in the stands, Gaikwad added: “(Wherever you go, men in yellow, there’s a lot of noise?) Yes, obviously all thanks to the legend (Dhoni) who is not here unfortunately. But obviously it is because of him. Everywhere you go, we have a lot of support. So hopefully we’ll make them happy tonight. We’ve got a couple of changes,” he said.
Mumbai Indians (Playing XI): Quinton de Kock (w), Naman Dhir, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya (c), Tilak Varma, Sherfane Rutherford, Mitchell Santner, Jasprit Bumrah, Krish Bhagat, AM Ghazanfar, Ashwani Kumar
Chennai Super Kings (Playing XI): Sanju Samson (w), Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Sarfaraz Khan, Dewald Brevis, Shivam Dube, Kartik Sharma, Jamie Overton, Noor Ahmad, Anshul Kamboj, Gurjapneet Singh, Mukesh Choudhary
