IPL 2026: Is Rohit Sharma playing in CSK vs MI Match 26?

Published - 02 May 2026, 19:02 IST | Updated - 02 May 2026, 19:17 IST

Mumbai Indians are batting first against Chennai Super Kings in the ongoing Match No. 44 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026, which is being played at the iconic venue of the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chepauk on Saturday, May 02. A set of Rohit Sharma fans were hoping for the star batter's return to the Playing XI ahead of this contest.

The MI skipper Hardik Pandya called it correctly at the coin flip and echoed his decision, wanting to set the target for the Chennai-based franchise. Both captains expressed their willingness to win the all-important match as the race to the playoffs is on the beckoning.

As it stands, Rohit Sharma is still unfit and has not taken part in this games. As a result, MI opened with Will Jacks and Ryan Rickelton for this game as well. They handed debut to Raghu Sharma, while Krish Bhagat replaced left-arm pacer Ashwani Kumar in the starting XI for the visiting side. CSK, on the other hand, also made a couple of changes, with Prashant Veer and Ramakrishna Ghosh coming in for Akeal Hosein and Gurjapneet Singh, respectively.

We're gonna bat first. Looks like a good track. The way we batted in the last game, we want to give another opportunity to our batters to score runs. We have to play our best cricket and see what happens. The mood has been good, it's been challenging. We have to fight. It's about playing for pride as well. Play good cricket overall. In 40 overs, we've lost game in 2-3 overs which were big moments. We have one debut - the leggie (Raghu Sharma) plays his first game and Krish comes back in for Ashwani.

We were looking to bat first. The wicket looks good, little bit on the direr side, won't change much. A tough track to bat on, last game. Confidence-wise everyone is right up there. Stick to the process, do the process right and result will come. (Ramakrishna) Ghosh comes in for Gurjapneet Singh and Prashant Veer comes in for Akeal Hosein.

Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Ruturaj Gaikwad (captain), Urvil Patel, Dewald Brevis, Shivam Dube, Jamie Overton, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Prashant Veer, Noor Ahmad, Anshul Kamboj, Mukesh Choudhary

Impact Substitutes: Kartik Sharma, Akeal Hosein, Sarfaraz Kham, Matt Short, Gurjapneet SIngh

Will Jacks, Ryan Rickelton (wicketkeeper), Suryakumar Yadav, Naman Dhir, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya (captain), Robin Minz, Trent Boult, Krish Bhagat, Jasprit Bumrah, AM Ghazanfar

Impact Substitutes: Raj Bawa, Raghu Sharma, Mayank Rawat, Shardul Thakur, Ashwani Kumar