Chennai Super Kings will host Mumbai Indians in game 3 of the IPL 2025 at MA Chidambaram Stadium. The arch-rivals will look for a strong start in the campaign but unfortunately for MI, their captain Hardik Pandya and star bowler Jasprit Bumrah will miss the action. The all-rounder is suspended for a game due to a slow-over rate in IPL 2024, while Bumrah is yet to recover from a back injury.
The contest between CSK and MI have always been fascinating and another classic one is expected on March 23. The hosts don’t have problems like MI does but their middle order can hurt the team in the 2025 campaign. Their top four is stacked with Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra and Shivam Dube but the number five spot may bother them. Either Rahul Tripathi, Vijay Shankar or Deepak Hooda will feature and neither of them has a good track record in recent times.
Bowling, on the other hand, looks strong for both teams. Even though MI will miss the service of Bumrah, the likes of Trent Boult and Deepak Chahar can wreak havoc at Cheapuk. Mitchell Santner too can have a good day in familiar conditions. For CSK, Matheesha Pathirana will be key alongside Ravichandran Ashwin, Noor Ahmad and Ravindra Jadeja.
The surface is expected to support the spinners. Bowling first will be ideal and the team who has a better day with the ball is likely to get the job done.
Probable Playing XI of CSK and MI
Chennai Super Kings - Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Rachin Ravindra, Rahul Tripathi, Shivam Dube, Sam Curran, MS Dhoni (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Matheesha Pathirana, Mukesh Choudhary
Mumbai Indians - Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton (wk), Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Will Jacks, Mitchell Santner, Naman Dhir, Raj Angad Bawa, Trent Boult, Arjun Tendulkar, Deepak Chahar