Picture Credit: BCCI
IPL 2026: Five-time champions Mumbai Indians won the toss and elected to bowl first against Chennai Super Kings in Match 33 of the Indian Premier League 2026 at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday.
Mumbai remained unchanged, with Rohit Sharma still sidelined due to injury. Chennai made a single change, bringing in Prashant Veer in place of Matthew Short.
The clash between the two most successful IPL franchises comes at a crucial juncture.
Led by Hardik Pandya, MI snapped a four-match losing streak with a win over the Gujarat Titans earlier this week and currently have two wins from six matches.
CSK, captained by Ruturaj Gaikwad, are in a similar position with two wins and four losses.
After three consecutive defeats, they bounced back with back-to-back victories before suffering a narrow 10-run loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad in their previous outing.
After winning the toss, Pandya 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 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,” he further added.
Gaikwad, after losing the toss, said, “We would have bowled first as well, but it was a 50-50 call. It looks like 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 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.”
“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 noted.
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