Mumbai Indians (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI)

Mumbai Indians (MI) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) renew their rivalry on Thursday, April 23, at the iconic Wankhede Stadium.

Hardik Pandya's men started their campaign with a win, but went on a four-match losing streak subsequently. However, on Monday (April 20), they ended the disappointing run by beating the Gujarat Titans comprehensively.

On the other hand, Chennai Super Kings started with a hat-trick of losses but bounced back commendably with two wins in a row. However, last week, they suffered their fourth defeat of the season, going down against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Here is MI’s strongest predicted XI vs CSK, Match 33, IPL 2026: Top Order: Rohit Sharma/Danish Malewar, Quinton de Kock (WK), Naman Dhir Rohit Sharma (Photo Source: MI)

Rohit Sharma's availability for the El Clásico is still wrapped in a cloud of uncertainty.

The Mumbai Indians have confirmed that the opener is still being assessed, and a final decision regarding his participation will be made just before the match. If he fails to recover in time, Danish Malewar might get another opportunity to open with Quinton de Kock. The South African veteran was dismissed cheaply in the last game but had scored an unbeaten ton in the one before that. Naman Dhir has been quite impressive of late. In six innings this season, he has aggregated 154 runs at an average of 30.80 and a strike rate of 152.48.

Middle Order: Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya (C), Tilak Varma, Sherfane Rutherford

Suryakumar Yadav has not been at his best since the T20 World Cup started in February. In IPL 2026, he has only made 121 runs at an average of 20.17. Hardik Pandya has also been struggling with bat and ball. He is averaging 24 with the bat and 50.67 with the ball. Tilak Varma would be high on confidence after smashing an unbeaten 101 off 45 balls in the last game to orchestrate a much-needed win for the Mumbai Indians.

Meanwhile, Sherfane Rutherford has looked in good touch, but he has had to bat in the lower order due to the presence of more established batters in the Mumbai Indians' setup.

Bowlers: Mitchell Santner, Krish Bhagat, Jasprit Bumrah, AM Ghazanfar, Ashwani Kumar (Impact) Ashwani-Kumar. (Photo source: X/IPL)

Mitchell Santner and AM Ghazanfar were excellent with the ball against the Gujarat Titans.

They bagged two wickets each and maintained superb economy rates of 5.3 and 6, respectively. Debutant Krish Bhagat, however, bowled just two overs but failed to pick up a wicket despite bowling economically. Jasprit Bumrah finally got his first wicket in IPL 2026, finishing with figures of 1/15 in three overs. However, the pick of the bowlers in the last game was Ashwani Kumar, who bagged a four-for and gave away just 24 runs in his four-over spell.

MI’s predicted playing XI vs CSK in Match 33, IPL 2026:

Rohit Sharma/Danish Malewar, Quinton de Kock (WK), Naman Dhir, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya (C), Tilak Varma, Sherfane Rutherford, Mitchell Santner, Krish Bhagat, Jasprit Bumrah, AM Ghazanfar

Impact Player: Ashwani Kumar