Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have signed Akash Madhwal as a replacement for Ayush Mhatre, who has been ruled out of the remainder of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 due to a hamstring injury.
According to an IPL statement, Madhwal, a right-arm fast bowler, has previously played for the Mumbai Indians (MI) in 2023 and 2024, and the Rajasthan Royals in 2025. He has participated in 17 IPL matches, taking 23 wickets. Madhwal also recorded a five-wicket haul, achieving impressive figures of 5/5 during his debut season for MI in the Eliminator against Lucknow Super Giants.
Ayush Mhatre, India's Under-19 World Cup-winning captain, began the season strongly for CSK, scoring two half-centuries in six matches before sustaining a left hamstring injury while batting in Match 27 against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Madhwal has joined CSK, five-time IPL champions, for a fee of Rs 30 Lakh.
The Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings, both five-time IPL champions and star-studded teams, will face each other in a high-profile match at Wankhede Stadium on Thursday. However, recent trends suggest that the rivalry may be losing some of its big-match intensity.
The Super Kings will aim to recover after a 10-run defeat to Sunrisers Hyderabad, their fourth loss of the season, while the Mumbai Indians will enter the encounter with confidence following a strong bowling performance and a century by Tilak Varma under pressure against Gujarat Titans, which secured their second win of the campaign.
Squads:
Mumbai Indians: Quinton de Kock (w), Danish Malewar, Naman Dhir, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya (c), Sherfane Rutherford, Mitchell Santner, Krish Bhagat, Jasprit Bumrah, AM Ghazanfar, Ashwani Kumar, Raj Bawa, Corbin Bosch, Mayank Rawat, Raghu Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Deepak Chahar, Trent Boult, Shardul Thakur, Will Jacks, Mayank Markande, Ryan Rickelton, Robin Minz, Mohammed Salahuddin Izhar.
Chennai Super Kings: Sanju Samson (w), Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Matthew Short, Sarfaraz Khan, Dewald Brevis, Shivam Dube, Jamie Overton, Anshul Kamboj, Noor Ahmad, Mukesh Choudhary, Gurjapneet Singh, Kartik Sharma, Prashant Veer, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Matt Henry, MS Dhoni, Akeal Hosein, Shreyas Gopal, Rahul Chahar, Spencer Johnson, Urvil Patel, Aman Khan, Zakary Foulkes, Akash Madhwal.