Why Rohit Sharma not playing in MI vs CSK?

Published - 23 Apr 2026, 18:58 IST | Updated - 23 Apr 2026, 19:28 IST

The El Clasico returns with the Mumbai Indians (MI) taking on the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Match 33 of the 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday, April 23.

MI would be buzzing with confidence after beating the Gujarat Titans by 99 runs in Ahmedabad to return to winning ways. CSK, meanwhile, fell to a defeat at the hands of the Sunrisers Hyderabad after winning two consecutive games at Chepauk.

MI captain Hardik Pandya won the toss and elected to bowl first, which has become a bit of a norm in this season’s IPL. The all-rounder compared the wicket to the same one that they played the Kolkata Knight Riders on, and wants to see how much they are required to chase.

The hosts have decided not to crop and change following their victory over GT in their last game, and thus name an unchanged lineup for the match against CSK. Rohit Sharma, therefore, misses out for a third consecutive game this season. In his absence, MI could continue opening with Danish Malewar, who finds himself amongst the substitutes’ bench.

“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.”

“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.”

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

Sanju Samson(w), Ruturaj Gaikwad(c), Sarfaraz Khan, Dewald Brevis, Shivam Dube, Kartik Sharma, Jamie Overton, Noor Ahmad, Anshul Kamboj, Gurjapneet Singh, Mukesh Choudhary