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IPL 2026: MI Win Toss, Elect to Bat First Against Struggling CSK

Mumbai Indians won the toss and elected to bat first against Chennai Super Kings in their IPL 2026 match at Chepauk. Skipper Hardik Pandya expressed confidence in the pitch and wanted his batters to score runs after their previous high-scoring loss. Both teams, five-time champions, have underperformed this season with CSK in seventh and MI in ninth place. Pandya emphasized the need to play for pride and fight hard despite the challenging season.

Key Points: IPL 2026: MI Elect to Bat First vs CSK in Chennai

  • MI win toss, elect to bat first against CSK
  • Hardik Pandya says pitch looks good, wants batters to score runs
  • Both five-time champions struggle this season
  • CSK 7th, MI 9th on points table
2 min read

IPL 2026: MI win toss, elect to bat first against CSK

Mumbai Indians win toss, elect to bat first vs CSK in IPL 2026. Hardik Pandya says pitch looks good. Both teams struggle near bottom of points table.

"It's about playing for pride as well. - Hardik Pandya"

Chennai, May 2

Mumbai Indians won the toss and elected to bat first against Chennai Super Kings in their Indian Premier League 2026 match on Saturday at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

After winning the toss and choosing to bat first, MI skipper Hardik Pandya said that the pitch looks good and the team wants to give their batters another chance to score runs after their last match, in which they scored 243-5 while batting first, but eventually lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad. He emphasised that the team needs to play their best cricket, stay positive despite challenges, and fight hard.

"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," Pandya said at the toss presentation.

MI and CSK, both the five-time IPL champions, have performed way below their reputations.

Chennai Super Kings have struggled this season, winning only three of their first eight matches and needing a strong comeback under Ruturaj Gaikwad to stay competitive. Currently, they are placed seventh on the IPL 2026 points table.

The Mumbai Indians have performed even worse, sitting near the bottom of the table, in ninth place, after six losses in their eight matches so far. Led by Hardik Pandya, they still have a slim chance to recover and push for playoff qualification and will look to stage a comeback.

CSK vs MI playing 11s:

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

CSK impact sub options - Kartik Sharma, Akeal Hosein, Sarfaraz Kham, Matt Short, Gurjapneet Singh

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

MI impact options - Raj Bawa, Raghu Sharma, Mayank Rawat, Shardul Thakur, Ashwani Kumar.

- ANI

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Reader Comments

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Priya S
CSK's playing XI looks weak - Sanju Samson opening and Dewald Brevis in middle order? This is not the same Dhoni-era CSK we used to fear. But hey, Ruturaj is trying his best! MI at least has Surya and Tilak who can score big. Match to dekhte hain! 🏏
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Rahul R
Honestly, both teams are playing for pride now. MI has only 2 wins in 8 matches - that's shocking for a five-time champion! Hardik's captaincy is questionable. Why is he persisting with same failures? At least give young guys like Raj Bawa a chance as impact sub. SMH 🤦‍♂️
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Ananya R
Watching CSK struggle without MSD is painful. 🥲 But credit to Ruturaj - he's handling pressure well as young captain. Urvil Patel in the XI? Interesting choice from domestic circuit. Hope he performs! Chepauk pitch usually helps spinners, so batting first might not be easy for MI.
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Vivek B
243-5 and still lost! That sums up MI's season. Bowling has been pathetic. Bumrah can't win matches alone. Krish Bhagat and Ghazanfar need to step up. But honestly, I'm just happy to watch big names like Surya, Gaikwad and Dube play for pride. Dhoni ko yaad kar rahe hain sab... 🥺
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Siddharth J
Interesting to see Sanju Samson opening for CSK! That's a smart move - he

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