IPL 2026: MI decide to bowl against CSK, suspense over Dhoni-Rohit finally ends; Know playing XIs

Mumbai Indians (MI) won the toss and invited Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to bat first in their Indian Premier League 2026 clash at the Wankhede stadium on April 23. Meanwhile, all the suspense over MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma finally ended as the duo ended up missing the crucial clash again as they failed to recover from their respective injuries.

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What did the captains say at the toss?

MI captain Hardik Pandya, after winning the toss, said:

"We are going to bowl first. I think a lot of boxes were ticked. The intensity was there. I think we needed that kind of a game where everyone comes in and chips in. Yeah, we had a perfect game. Yes, I think that was a conscious effort - that no matter what happens, intensity is in your control. I just wanted to make sure that we enjoy ourselves. I think things were becoming quite serious. Cricket is played best when you are enjoying the sport. A lot of things happen, right! So yeah, we just wanted to have fun. Things went our way and it was a good game. This pitch looks green, but it did against the KKR game as well, and it played pretty well. It’s going to be a good track. Just want to see how much we have on the board and chase it. Same team."

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Meanwhile, CSK skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad, after losing the toss, said:

"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. (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."

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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

Mumbai Indians Impact subs: Will Jacks, Raj Bawa, Shardul Thakur, Danish Malewar, Mayank Markande

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

Chennai Super Kings Impact subs: Prashant Veer, Matthew Short, Matt Henry, Akeal Hosein, Urvil Patel