Picking a combined MI-CSK playing XI for IPL 2024 ft. Suryakumar Yadav, Mustafizur Rahman

Mumbai Indians (MI) face Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in match 29 of IPL 2024 at the Wankhede in Mumbai on Sunday, April 14. The much-awaited El Clasico contest will be the second game of Sunday's doubleheader.

Despite strong performances in the last two matches, MI are languishing in seventh place in the IPL 2024 points table. They began the tournament with three losses. After beating Delhi Capitals by 29 runs, Mumbai Indians got the better of Royal Challengers Bengaluru by seven wickets at home.

As for CSK, they are third in the points table, with three wins and two losses in five games. After faltering against Delhi Capitals and SunRisers Hyderabad, Chennai lifted themselves with an emphatic seven-wicket victory over Kolkata Knight Riders at the Chepauk. Bowling first, CSK restricted KKR to 137-9 before chasing down the target in a clinical fashion.

In the head-to-head numbers, Mumbai Indians have a 20-16 lead over Chennai Super Kings in the IPL. As the old rivals gear up for the mega clash on Sunday, we do the difficult job of picking a combined MI vs CSK XI:

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Openers: Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk)

MI openers Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan would kickstart the batting in the combined XI as well.

Rohit has batted in a similar mode to how he did in the 2023 ODI World Cup. He has made decent contributions in three of Mumbai's five matches. In the last two games, Rohit scored 47 off 27 against DC and 38 off 24 against RCB.

Kishan has put behind the non-selection controversy concerning the national team and has looked like his usual self in IPL 2024. He cracked 42 off 23 against DC and 69 off 34 versus RCB. His performance augurs well for Team India keeping the T20 World Cup in mind.

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Middle order/ All-rounders: Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Tim David, Ravindra Jadeja

Ravindra Jadeja celebrates a wicket against KKR. (Pic: BCCI/ iplt20.com)

There's a slight tweak in the combined XI, as CSK opener and skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad would come in at number three.

He would also lead the team, having impressed in his short stint as captain so far. Speaking of his batting, the 27-year-old contributed a fine 67* off 58 in the win over Kolkata.

MI swashbuckler Suryakumar Yadav also finds a place in the combined XI for obvious reasons. After registering a duck in his comeback match against Delhi Capitals, Suryakumar smashed a typically aggressive 52 off 19 in the seven-wicket hammering of RCB. The blazing knock included five fours and four sixes.

CSK big-hitter Shivam Dube also finds a deserved place in the combined Mumbai-Chennai XI. The left-hander has continued his fantastic form with the willow. In five matches this season, he has contributed 176 runs at an average of 44 and a strike rate of 160, slamming 10 fours and 13 sixes.

Mumbai Indians' Tim David has made some crucial contributions at the death with his clean hitting. He has 115 runs at a strike rate of 149.35. With his ability to clear the fence with ease, David has been a huge asset to Mumbai.

Ravindra Jadeja would be the star all-rounder in the Mumbai-Chennai combined XI for IPL 2024. The left-arm spinner was the Player of the Match for his figures of 3-18 in the triumph over KKR. Jadeja dismissed Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Sunil Narine and Venkatesh Iyer to put his team on top.

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Bowlers: Gerald Coetzee, Jasprit Bumrah,Tushar Deshpande, Mustafizur Rahman

Jasprit Bumrah (right) claimed a five-fer in Mumbai’s last match. (Pic: BCCI/ iplt20.com)

Jasprit Bumrah would be the leader of the pace attack, which also comprises Gerald Coetzee, Tushar Deshpande and Mustafizur Rahman.

Bumrah was outstanding in the triumph over RCB, registering figures of 5-21. He dismissed Virat Kohli early in the contest and added the scalps of Faf du Plessis and Mahipal Lomror as well.

Coetzee is known as someone who always gives his everything to a spell. He claimed 2-27 against Gujarat Titans and finished with excellent figures of 4-34 versus Delhi Capitals.

Deshpande and Mustafizur are the CSK representatives in the fast bowling department of the combined XI. Deshpande had an impressive outing against CSK, registering figures of 3-33. He picked up the scalps of Phil Salt, Rinku Singh and Andre Russell.

Mustafizur picked up 2-22 in the same match and has been among the wickets in all four games he has played. He made a brilliant start to his CSK career, claiming 4-29 in the triumph over RCB in the IPL 2024 opener.

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Impact Player options

Because of the plethora of talent, a number of big names failed to make it to the combined MI vs CSK XI. As such, we picked five such names as Impact Player nominees.

Impact subs for MI-CSK combined XI: MS Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Romario Shepherd, Daryl Mitchell, Maheesh Theekshana