Chennai Super Kings (CSK) players wore black armbands in the IPL 2026 match against Mumbai Indians (MI) on Thursday.CSK and MI come face to face for the first time in IPL 2026. The much awaited game, dubbed ‘El Classico’, has entered a new phase as it is the first IPL match without Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni in the playing XI.CSK players wore black armbands as CSK pacer Mukesh Choudhary’s mother passed away on Tuesday after a year-long battle with the disease.
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Justin Langer on LSG’s batting failure and opening team bowling“This one is for Mukesh’s mother. In her memory and in solidarity with Mukesh, today we wear black armbands and play with a little more in our hearts,” CSK said in a social media post.“The CSK family is mourning the passing of Mukesh Choudhary’s mother. We stand with Mukesh and his family and keep them in our thoughts and prayers at this incredibly difficult time,” the franchise said earlier Thursday morning.Mukesh Choudhary was part of the ČSK eleven for Thursday’s match.In the match, Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya won the toss and chose to bowl against the Chennai Super Kings between the two five-time champions.Mumbai Indians fielded the same playing XI from the previous match, with Rohit Sharma missing his third game in a row due to a hamstring problem.For Chennai Super Kings, MS Dhoni is still recovering from a calf strain and has not played a single game in IPL 2026.WATCH LIVETeamsMumbai Indians: Hardik Pandya (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Naman Dhir, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Sherfane Rutherford, Mitchell Santner, Jasprit Bumrah, Krish Bhagat, AM Ghazanfar and Ashwani Kumar.Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Sanju Samson (wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Dewald Brevis, Shivam Dube, Kartik Sharma, Jamie Overton, Noor Ahmad, Anshul Kamboj, Gurjapneet Singh and Mukesh Choudhary
