Chennai, May 2 (IANS) Mumbai Indians won the toss and elected to bat first against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Match 44 for Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Saturday. It is a must-win clash for both teams in part two of the ‘El Clásico’ clash of the IPL if they are to keep themselves in contention for the playoffs.

After winning the toss, MI captain Hardik Pandya said leg-spinner Raghu Sharma gets his debut while Krish Bhagat returns to the playing eleven. Raghu, though, will come in as an Impact Player in MI’s second innings. He was a support bowler with MI last year and was drafted in late last season as a replacement player.

“Looks like a good track. The way we batted in the last game, we want to give our batters another opportunity 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 the game in 2-3 overs, which were big moments,” he said.

CSK skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad said pace bowling all-rounder Ramakrishna Ghosh comes in for Gurjapneet Singh, while Prashant Veer replaces Akeal Hosein. “We were looking to bat first. The wicket looks good, a little bit on the drier 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 the result will come,” he said.

Playing XIs:

Chennai Super Kings: Sanju Samson (wk), Ruturaj Gaikwad (captain), Urvil Patel, Dewald Brevis, Shivam Dube, Jamie Overton, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Prashant Veer, Noor Ahmad, Anshul Kamboj, and Mukesh Choudhary

Impact substitutes: Kartik Sharma, Akeal Hosein, Sarfaraz Kham, Matt Short, and Gurjapneet Singh

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

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

–IANS

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