For the first time in Indian Premier League history, a match between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings took place without both Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni. The two storied franchises met in IPL 2026 on Thursday, marking a significant moment in the league's timeline.
Match Overview
Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya won the toss and elected to bowl first. He fielded the same playing XI that had defeated Gujarat Titans three days earlier. This meant that Rohit Sharma, who has been sidelined since sustaining a hamstring injury against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, missed yet another game.
Chennai Super Kings made one change to their lineup, but MS Dhoni was again absent from the starting XI. Dhoni has been recovering from a calf strain and has not played any match this season. Initially expected to be out for two weeks, his return has been delayed. At the toss, Chennai captain Ruturaj Gaikwad indicated that Dhoni had not even traveled to the stadium.
Historic Absence
This encounter was the first MI-CSK match without both Rohit and Dhoni. In all 39 previous meetings between the two teams, at least one of the two legends had always featured. Dhoni had played in 38 of those matches, missing only one in 2019. Rohit has been with Mumbai Indians since the 2011 auction and has been a regular in their lineup ever since.
Sanju Samson's Century
Chennai Super Kings' Sanju Samson scored his fifth IPL century during the match. He reached the milestone on the final ball of the innings by hitting a boundary off Krish Bhagat. This was his second hundred of the season, his second for Chennai Super Kings, and his fifth overall in the IPL.
Samson remained not out on 101 runs from 54 balls, helping Chennai Super Kings post a total of 207 for 6. He anchored the innings while wickets fell at the other end, hitting 10 fours and six sixes in his knock.
Bowling Performance
For Mumbai Indians, AM Ghazanfar and Ashwani Kumar took two wickets each, while Jasprit Bumrah returned figures of 1 for 31.
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