18 years, 39 matches later: First-ever MI-CSK match without Rohit Sharma or Dhoni in IPL history

For the first time in IPL history, a Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings match took place without both Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni, as the two sides met in IPL 2026 on Thursday.Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya won the toss and opted to bowl, sticking with the same XI that beat Gujarat Titans three days ago. That meant Rohit, who has been out since picking up a hamstring injury against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, missed another game.Chennai made one change, but MS Dhoni was again not part of the XI. Dhoni has been recovering from a calf strain and has not played a match this season. He was earlier expected to be out for two weeks, but has not returned yet. At the toss, captain Ruturaj Gaikwad indicated that Dhoni had not even travelled to the stadium.This was the first Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings match without both Rohit and Dhoni. In earlier games between the two sides, at least one of them had always played.Out of 39 previous meetings between the teams in the IPL, Dhoni featured in 38 matches, missing only one in 2019. Rohit has been with Mumbai Indians since the 2011 auction and has been a regular in their lineup.In the match, Sanju Samson scored his fifth IPL century. He reached the milestone on the final ball of the innings with a boundary off Krish Bhagat. It was his second hundred of the season, his second for Chennai Super Kings and fifth overall in the IPL.Samson remained not out on 101 from 54 balls and helped Chennai Super Kings post 207 for 6. He stayed till the end while wickets fell at the other end.He hit 10 fours and six sixes in his innings.For Mumbai Indians, AM Ghazanfar and Ashwani Kumar took two wickets each, while Jasprit Bumrah returned figures of 1 for 31.