Chennai Super Kings–Mumbai Indians cricket rivalry

The Chennai Super Kings–Mumbai Indians rivalry, is a cricket rivalry between two franchises, Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the defunct Champions League Twenty20 (CLT20). The two teams have played each other 38 times in IPL and 2 times in CLT20 which is the most number of times any two IPL teams have faced off each other, with the Mumbai Indians having more victories (21). Called the "El Classico of IPL", they are the two most successful teams in IPL winning a combined 10 titles out of the 17 IPL seasons, with 5 titles each. 2022 was the first season when neither side advanced to the play-off stage.
Mumbai and Chennai are also considered as two of the biggest metropolitan cities in India and also represent the capital cities of the two largest states of India by GDP, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu and are also the largest cities on the western and eastern coasts of India respectively.
The highest run scorers from these fixtures are IPL legends Rohit Sharma with 837 runs in 29 innings with 1 Century, and former CSK Player Suresh Raina with 736 runs in 32 outings. [Source - ESPNCricinfo]
Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians have historically engaged in some of the most iconic clashes in the IPL, including four times in the final.
The spark for the CSK-MI rivalry was lit at their first IPL meeting. A stacked CSK batting order fired to rack up a massive 208 for five in its first game at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chepauk. Opener Matthew Hayden's belligerent 46-ball 81 set the base before Suresh Raina's fifty (53) and skipper MS Dhoni's 16-ball 30 cameo put MI under pressure. Mumbai, however, threatened to chase down the target with contributions through the order but none could capitalise to play a match-defining knock. MI required 19 to win in the final over, but only managed 12 as CSK eked out the visitor by six runs.
Mumbai Indians qualified for the final for first time in their Indian Premier League history while it was the second time for Chennai Super Kings in three years. Super Kings qualified for the final at 2008 Indian Premier League where they lost to Rajasthan Royals by three wickets in a last ball thriller. In the 2010 IPL final Super Kings faced the tournament favourites Mumbai Indians at their home ground in the final. Suresh Raina's 57 (35) helped the Super Kings recover from 68/3 after 12 overs to put up 168/5 at the end of their 20 overs. Then, their spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Muralitharan conceded only 41 runs in the 8 overs bowled between them to help the Super Kings won the game by 22 runs and secure their first ever IPL title. With this, the Super Kings also qualified for the 2010 Champions League Twenty20 that was held in South Africa.
In the first Qualifier at Delhi against Mumbai Indians, the Super Kings posted 192/1 in 20 overs riding on unbeaten half-centuries from Hussey (86* off 58 balls) and Raina (82* off 42 balls) before bowling out their opponents for 144. Thus they entered the final of the IPL for the fourth time in succession where they would play the same opponents, Mumbai Indians, at Kolkata. At the final, batting first, the Mumbai Indians made 148/9 in their 20 overs. In reply, the Super Kings were reduced to 39/6 at one stage before an unbeaten half-century from skipper Dhoni took them close to the target. However, Mumbai Indians won the match by 23 runs to win their first ever IPL title.
It was the third time these two teams met in the final, having previously played each other in the 2010 and 2013 finals. Mumbai defeated Chennai by 41 runs to win their second IPL title, playing in their third IPL final. Their previous IPL victory had come at the same venue against the same opposition in 2013. Chennai were playing their sixth IPL final, attempting to win their third title. Mumbai captain Rohit Sharma was awarded man of the match for his innings of 50. The final was sold out, with a final attendance of around 67,000 people.
Mumbai Indians won the title for the fourth time. Mumbai beat Chennai Super Kings by 1 run in a thrilling title match. Mumbai team after the end of IPL 2019 became the most successful team of IPL by winning the fourth title. After Mumbai, Chennai was second in terms of most IPL titles won (3). Chennai won three titles of IPL at that point of time. Mumbai presented 149 runs in the final match played at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad. In reply, he Chennai team could manage, only 148 runs in the loss of 7 wickets in 20 overs despite the brilliant innings of Shane Watson (80). Watson hit 8 fours and 4 sixes in his 59-ball innings. Apart from this, Faf du Plessis (26), Suresh Raina (8), MS Dhoni (2), Ambati Rayudu scored 1 for Chennai. Rahul Chahar, Lasith Malinga and Krunal Pandya took one wicket each for Mumbai. There were four final matches between these two teams, of which Mumbai won three (2013, 2015, 2019), while Chennai has won one (2010).
Last updated: 15 April 2024 (Source: ESPNcricinfo)