Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings is undoubtedly THE Indian Premier League (IPL) rivalry, with the franchises having combined for nine titles in 15 seasons. MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma are, by a distance, the two most successful captains in the competition’s history. They are also both coming off a disastrous 2022 season, with slightly remodelled squads attempting to get back what both view as their rightful place in the playoffs.
Chennai have been involved in two close finishes, losing to Gujarat and beating Lucknow, while Mumbai were routed by the Virat Kohli – Faf du Plessis combination after an under-par batting display. Jofra Archer, their bowling trump card in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, is slowly feeling his way back on the big stage after two seasons blighted by injury, and they badly need their largely unproven Indian contingent to come good.
Chennai’s batting, led by Ruturaj Gaikwad – who looks to be in the kind of form that won him the Orange cap in 2021 – looks formidable, though they will expect much more from both Ben Stokes and Ravindra Jadeja. The use of Tushar Deshpande as an Impact Player hasn’t been a success, and it’ll be interesting to see if they can somehow find a place for Dwaine Pretorius in their match plans.
Deepak Chahar, who was their best bowler with 58 wickets between 2018 and 2021, missed all of last season, and is clearly a little rusty, while Jadeja’s lack of wickets in white-ball cricket has been a concern for a while. Moeen Ali and Mitchell Santner were superb in the home win over Lucknow, but the surface at the Wankhede is unlikely to be anything like as spin-friendly.
Mumbai have bossed this rivalry in recent seasons, but they’ll need a significant improvement on that dismal first game if they aren’t to be outsmarted by a Chennai side still driven by Dhoni’s unshakeable faith in his methods.
Venue and Time
Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, 7.30 PM IST.
Toss and expected conditions
Chasing teams have won 52.9 per cent of matches at the Wankhede Stadium, which has typically been one of the higher-scoring venues. The average winning total when batting first is more than 180, and the bounce the pitches provide has meant pace bowlers have had better averages and strike-rates than the spinners.
Head-to-Head
Mumbai lead the IPL rivalry 20-14, with 7 wins from the past 10 matches. They had also won one game apiece in the now-defunct Champions League T20.
Possible XIs and Impact Player Watch
Mumbai have called up Riley Meredith, the Tasmanian quick bowler, as a replacement for Jhye Richardson, but there’s no guarantee that either he or Jason Behrendorff, his fellow Australian, will start. Mumbai could again start with three overseas players, and then sub out Rayudu or someone else to bring in an overseas bowler. Chennai are unlikely to tinker with the combination that beat Lucknow, though doubts remain over Tushar Deshpande as the Impact Player.
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (C), Ishan Kishan (WK), Cameron Green, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Tim David, Nehal Wadhera, Hrithik Shokeen, Arshad Khan, Piyush Chawla, Jofra Archer.
Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Shivam Dube, Moeen Ali, Ben Stokes, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (C, WK), Deepak Chahar, Mitchell Santner, Rajvardhan Hangargekar.