Both camps will leave the big calls on Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni until the toss at Wankhede on Thursday night, with the pair still under daily assessment by their respective medical teams.
Rohit (tight hamstring) has sat out Mumbai Indians’ last two fixtures, while Dhoni (calf) is yet to appear at all this season for Chennai Super Kings. Encouragingly, the two senior players took the bat on Wednesday evening, when MI and CSK held overlapping training sessions in Mumbai.
Dhoni emerged first. After a gentle jog alongside CSK physio Tommy Simsek, he watched team-mates for a few minutes, then strapped on the pads. A handful of tennis-ball throws eased him in before he stepped into the nets proper, facing quicks Spencer Johnson, Mukesh Choudhary, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Aman Khan and Zak Foulkes. Twenty minutes later he rested, rounded off with throw-downs and a couple of trademark swipes that cleared the practice wickets.
Whatever Dhoni’s condition, CSK must reshuffle the order. Young opener Ayush Mhatre, their leading run-scorer and a rare bright spot in a patchy campaign, is out for the season after tweaking a hamstring. One straightforward fix would be promoting Gujarat keeper-batter Urvil Patel. If Dhoni is available, the franchise could again deploy him as the Impact Player – a substitute rule that allows a named player to join mid-match without changing the batting order – sliding everyone else up a spot until the former captain walks in.
Bowling coach Eric Simons underlined Dhoni’s influence even from the sidelines. “A person like MS never really goes away,” Simons said. “He’s always a presence. He’s always there. He’s always a resource for us. He’s always someone we bounce off and get ideas and thoughts about. The tactic that we’re using at the death has been something he’s given a lot of insights into, a lot of thoughts around as well. He’s always there as a resource.”
Rohit’s session looked lighter. After stretching and a slow run, he faced roughly 25 minutes of right-arm and left-arm throw-downs, favouring timing drills over big swings. The absence of live bowlers implies Mumbai are still treating the situation cautiously, yet insiders suggested he moved freely enough.
Form tables provide little comfort to either side. MI sit on two wins from six, finally halting a four-match skid against Gujarat Titans on Monday. CSK followed a mirror-image pattern – three defeats, two victories, one more defeat – to reach the same total. In short, both giants are parked in the lower half and need points quickly.
From a tactical angle, Rohit’s comeback would strengthen Mumbai’s power-play batting and allow them to recalibrate the middle overs, where Suryakumar Yadav has carried the load. For Chennai, Dhoni’s presence is as much about composure at the finish as it is late-order boundaries; his wicket-keeping boots would also free up a spot for an extra bowler if required.
Neither franchise is showing its hand publicly, and with an evening start there will be time for one final assessment after the morning loosener. For now, supporters of both teams may have to wait until the captains stroll out for the toss to find out whether two of the IPL’s most recognisable faces are back in action.
