All eyes on Dhoni and Rohit as IPL's defining rivalry returns

Massive image – Rohit vs Dhoni?

They first shared a taking part in discipline on October 1, 2006, when Rohit Sharma performed for India Pink and MS Dhoni for India Blue within the 50-overs Challenger Trophy, in Chennai. That was the primary of 652 matches throughout codecs that they have been concerned in both as team-mates or opponents.

On Thursday, practically 20 years on from that first assembly, there’s an opportunity that Rohit and Dhoni will occupy the identical patch of turf once more. There’s a probability Rohit may very well be match to begin after lacking Mumbai Indians’ (MI) final two video games with a hamstring difficulty. And Dhoni may play his first recreation of IPL 2026 if Chennai Tremendous Kings’ (CSK) coaching classes are something to go by: he has not solely batted however even stored wickets (which he by no means practised within the nets even at his peak), suggesting he may very well be readying his troublesome calves for match motion.

It is a testomony to each gamers that they continue to be the faces of their franchises even in 2026, however it can be learn as a little bit of an indictment, an emblem of how far the IPL’s two most profitable groups have fallen behind different, extra futuristic line-ups that at the moment are setting the phrases.

However outcomes can unduly color the best way groups are perceived, and MI and CSK may each think about themselves higher than their place on the IPL 2026 factors desk – six video games every, two wins every – would recommend.

CSK may marvel how their season may look had they not suffered so many accidents, the most recent of which has ended the season of their high run-getter to this point, Ayush Mhatre (201 runs at a strike charge of 177.87). They’ve used 18 gamers throughout their six video games, and a nineteenth – Dhoni? – may are available in on Thursday.

MI have used much more gamers – 20, probably the most of any workforce. Of their case, type has been as a lot of a purpose for this as health.

However they’ve grounds for positivity now, after a doubtlessly season-turning win over Gujarat Titans (GT) of their final recreation. Their batters have not all clicked simply but, however they appear to have settled on a believable form for his or her line-up, with Naman Dhir’s promotion offsetting the spin weaknesses of the remainder of their center order, and unlocking the pace-hitting beast inside Tilak Varma. Throw in Will Jacks, who has joined the squad and is offered to play on Thursday, and doubtlessly Rohit, and MI’s batting would not look fairly to this point behind the IPL’s pace-setters.

The bowling, too, might need turned a nook, with an overhauled mixture – two recent faces among the many home seamers, and each Mitchell Santner and AM Ghazanfar that includes within the spin assault – rolling GT over for 100, with Jasprit Bumrah ending a protracted and puzzling wicket drought alongside the best way.

Going into Thursday’s contest, then, MI may properly be the extra settled – or a minimum of much less unsettled – mixture of the 2 groups. What affect that has on the end result stays to be seen.

Type information

Mumbai Indians: WLLLL (final 5 accomplished matches, most up-to-date first)

Chennai Tremendous Kings: LWWLL

Key query

Group information

Who will Jacks exchange, if he performs? Sherfane Rutherford is the plain possibility; it is not clear that No. 7 is the best spot for him, and Jacks brings additional utility along with his offspin even when he solely manages the identical batting impression in that position. Alternatively, MI may play each of them and pass over one in all their two abroad spinners; with Hardik Pandya within the XI, they’ll afford to lose a frontline bowling possibility to herald a batting allrounder.

If Rohit is match, he’ll are available in for Danish Malewar.

Mumbai Indians (possible): 1 Rohit Sharma/Danish Malewar, 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Suryakumar Yadav, 4 Naman Dhir, 5 Tilak Varma, 6 Hardik Pandya (capt), 7 Will Jacks/Sherfane Rutherford, 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 AM Ghazanfar/Will Jacks, 10 Krish Bhagat, 11 Jasprit Bumrah, 12 Ashwani Kumar.

Who replaces Mhatre? Urvil Patel, who got here into the squad in the direction of the tail-end of IPL 2025 and smashed 68 runs in three innings at a strike charge of 212.5, appears the plain selection. But when CSK make the plain selection, and if Dhoni is match, how do they proceed?

Maybe one solution to go is to go away out Matthew Quick, who started properly in CSK’s final recreation towards SRH, conceding simply 13 from his first two overs as a powerplay match-up offspinner earlier than his night time went downhill – Abhishek Sharma collared him in a 25-ball third over, after which he plodded his solution to 34 off 30 balls as CSK misplaced steam via the again half of their chase.

Chennai Tremendous Kings (possible): 1 Sanju Samson (wk), 2 Ruturaj Gaikwad (capt), 3 Urvil Patel, 4 Dewald Brevis, 5 Sarfaraz Khan, 6 Shivam Dube, 7 Matthew Quick/MS Dhoni, 8 Jamie Overton, 9 Anshul Kamboj, 10 Noor Ahmad, 11 Mukesh Choudhary/Matt Henry/Akeal Hosein, 12 Gurjapneet Singh.

Within the highlight

After taking break day for private causes, Will Jacks has joined the MI squad. His presence provides MI elevated flexibility – they might play an additional batter or quick bowler somewhat than a frontline spinner towards sure line-ups, as an illustration – however what they could most need from him is the flexibility to take over the finisher’s position. Naman Dhir began the season there however has now moved up the order, and the opposite choices MI have for that position – Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya and Sherfane Rutherford – all choose coming in barely earlier. Jacks is a flexible participant, however does he have it in him to come back in on the loss of life and begin hitting sixes instantly?

Shivam Dube is usually the one left-hand batter in CSK’s high eight. His entry level, then, may very well be key to how a lot strain CSK are capable of apply on MI’s bowling mixtures. If they’ll have Dube on the crease by across the midway level of their innings, they might have an effect on MI’s skill to make use of Mitchell Santner’s left-arm spin. With Dube and Dewald Brevis of their center order, CSK ought to theoretically be one of many hardest groups within the league to bowl spin towards.

Stats and trivia

CSK have gained 4 of their final 5 video games towards MI. The newest assembly, nonetheless, was a nine-wicket MI win on the Wankhede final 12 months that includes unbeaten half-centuries from Rohit and Suryakumar Yadav.

MI may very well be simply the workforce for Ruturaj Gaikwad to seek out some type towards. He has made three half-centuries in 9 innings towards MI, together with two in his final two video games.

Gaikwad additionally enjoys going through Jasprit Bumrah: in three innings, the match-up has produced 29 in 17 balls, with no dismissal. Their rivalry has additionally produced probably the most iconic photographs of the CSK-MI rivalry: a nonchalant sweep for six off the final ball of CSK’s innings in Abu Dhabi in 2021.

Pitch and situations

Over latest matches, Pitch 7 on the Wankhede has defied the venue’s popularity in a number of methods. It hasn’t been significantly high-scoring (the final six T20s right here have produced a mean first-innings whole of 179), it has tended to favour the workforce batting first (4 wins and two losses in these six video games, with the run charge dipping from 8.98 within the first innings to eight.57 within the second), and spinners have been considerably extra economical (economic system charge of seven.71) than the quick bowlers (9.38). For all that, although, the workforce profitable the toss remains to be more likely to wish to chase given Mumbai’s propensity for dew, which might be heightened by daytime temperatures approaching the mid-30s (Celsius).

Karthik Krishnaswamy is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo