MI vs CSK: Why MS Dhoni And Rohit Sharma Are Not Playing Today’s IPL 2026 Match At Wankhede Stadium? — Reason Revealed

MI vs CSK: The ‘El Classico’ of the Indian Premier League is here and the biggest giants of this rivalry are missing. It is the Mumbai indians taking on the Chennai Super Kings at the iconic Wankhede Stadium. However, both teams will be without their most experienced players. For MI, Rohit Sharma continues to be on the sidelines after picking up a hamstring injury against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Meanwhile, for CSK, their ‘Thala’ MS Dhoni is yet to play a single game in IPL 2026.

Why is MS Dhoni not playing today?

The IPL 2026 match against the Mumbai Indians on Thursday at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium would not include MS Dhoni. Due to a calf issue sustained during the preseason, Dhoni has not participated in a single game for his side this year. Even though Dhoni has been training for a while, he is still not fully prepared to return to CSK. According to a Revsportz story, he will probably play in the May 21 encounter against the Gujarat Titans, but the former captain of the Indian cricket team is said to have the last say.

Tuesday’s training session featured a batting exercise in the nets after the famous CSK captain kept the wickets. He played for a very little period on Wednesday before taking a break and coming back for almost an hour to take on quick bowlers and throwdown specialists. However, there were also some humorous moments on the field when Dhoni, who has always loved dogs, saw the AI-powered IPL robotic dog and played with it for a short while.

Why is Rohit Sharma not playing today?

Rohit Sharma, the opener for the Mumbai Indians, has missed his third consecutive game for the five-time winners in the current Indian Premier League (IPL). He has been out since last week’s game against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) due to a hamstring strain he suffered while batting. Until Hardik Pandya announced his absence during the toss, there was uncertainty regarding his availability for today’s big match against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

But based on the net session the night before the match, Rohit doesn’t appear to have fully recovered. Before padded up for a hit, the former MI captain began the workout with modest jogs. This indicates that he may not have fully healed from his hamstring injury and is not yet ready to take on the fast bowler in the nets. Due to the debutant’s lackluster performance in the previous game, Danish Malewar was kept in the starting lineup in his absence.

Why Rohit Sharma is a big miss in MI vs CSK?

Given how brilliantly Rohit has performed in this rivalry, he would be a significant miss tonight. With 913 runs in 31 games, he has the most in MI vs. CSK history. He has scored more over 500 IPL runs versus CSK in Wankhede Stadium, where he is even more dominant.

IPL 2026: MI vs CSK Toss

Hardik Pandya, for the Mumbai Indians won the toss and decided to bowl first against the Chennai Super Kings at Wankhede Stadium.

Mumbai Indians Playing XI: Quinton de Kock (wk), 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 (wk), Ruturaj Gaikwad (C), Sarfaraz Khan, Dewald Brevis, Shivam Dube, Kartik Sharma, Jamie Overton, Noor Ahmad, Anshul Kamboj, Gurjapneet Singh, Mukesh Choudhary

Also Read: Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings Winner Prediction: Who Will Win MI vs CSK in Tonight’s IPL 2026 Match At Wankhede?

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