3 player battles to watch out for in MI vs CSK, Match 38 of IPL 2025 ft. Noor Ahmad

Mumbai Indians (MI) will face arch-rivals Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for the second time in IPL 2025, but this time at their home ground, the Wankhede Stadium. The two sides will square off on Sunday, April 20.

Both sides started their campaign against each other at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, where the home side came out victorious. Both MI and CSK suffered a series of defeats later, and took time to get back to winning ways.

Both teams are coming off wins from their previous matches. While CSK have two wins from seven matches, MI have three victories from as many games.

On that note, here are three player battles to look out for from the MI vs CSK game:

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#3 Khaleel Ahmed vs Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma’s weakness against left-arm pace has been exposed this season, and he’s been dismissed cheaply in all of his outings so far. He’s only managed to amass 82 runs in six innings, and CSK’s new-ball bowlers will look to get his wicket early in the powerplay.

When the two sides met at Chepauk, Khaleel Ahmed dismissed the former MI skipper for a four-ball duck and would be hoping to repeat the same in Wankhede. This marks the third time he dismissed Rohit in T20s. Khaleel went on to pick up three wickets against Mumbai in the third match of IPL 2025.

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#2 Deepak Chahar vs Rachin Ravindra

Rachin Ravindra played a very composed knock against MI in their previous encounter, scoring an unbeaten 65 off 45 deliveries as CSK finished the 156-run chase in 18.1 overs. But his performances have gone down since, along with the team's fortunes. The Kiwi batter has faced difficulty scoring runs consistently.

Deepak Chahar has had decent outings in the blue outfit, but one thing that has been commendable about his spells is his ability to pick up wickets in the powerplay. He has provided MI with some crucial breakthroughs and will be expected to do the same against Ravindra, his former teammate.

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#1 Noor Ahmad vs Suryakumar Yadav

Noor Ahmad has been a shining light in a dismal season for CSK, proving to be the franchise’s best buy at the mega auction last year. Chennai's last match against Lucknow Super Giants was the first time this term that Noor went wicketless, having taken 12 scalps so far.

Nonetheless, he put up a game-changing performance and conceded just 13 runs in his four-over spell. During the CSK vs MI clash earlier this season, Ahmad picked up a four-wicket haul to start his campaign on a high.

Notably, Suryakumar Yadav was among those who fell prey to the Afghan spinner in that game, courtesy of a lightning-quick stumping by MS Dhoni. The MI batter has looked a bit rusty this season and is still struggling to find the right momentum. With Noor being in top form, he’ll pose a threat against the Indian T20I skipper.