Tata Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026, match number 33, was between two heavyweight teams of the tournament as Mumbai Indians (MI) hosted Chennai Super Kings (CSK) during the game. Shardul Thakur came out to bat for the home team, despite being a substitute who was already an influential player in the game.
Shardul Thakur came to bat as a replacement for Mitchell Santner, who injured his left shoulder while completing the catch of Karthik Sharma. The New Zealand captain took a brilliant catch off the bowling of Jasprit Bumrah in 16.5 overs, and to his surprise, he caught his left shoulder in play. He was taken out of the field and Shardul Thakur is present at the crease.
Why did Shardul Thakur come to bat?
Mitchell Santner was seen wearing a heavy bandage on his left shoulder area, which is also his bowling arm. The Kiwis did not come out to bat after the wicket of Sherfane Rutherford; Shardul Thakur came to bat in his place. MI have already used their impact subs in the game. Was it legal and a similar shock sub to play Shardul Thakur in place of Santner? The question will remain.
The concussion substitution rule (also known as substitution) in cricket allows a player suspected of suffering a head injury to be replaced, while protecting the player’s safety. The ICC implemented the rule in 2019, which requires “like-for-like” substitutions to be approved by the match referee to guarantee fairness.
MI batsmen scattered
Chasing 208, MI got off to a very bad start as they lost three wickets in two overs to reduce the score to 11/3 with Akeal Hosein taking two wickets in his first two overs. The first wicket was taken by Danish Malewar as a golden duck, then the second opener Quinton de Kock was dismissed by Mukesh Chaudhary, then Hosein dismissed Naman Dheer.
Thanks to the brilliant performance of CSK bowlers, MI could only score 29/3 in the power play. This was his lowest power play total in IPL 2026. Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Verma then put on a 73-run partnership, before Tilak was out for 37 as Akil took his third wicket of the match.
Mumbai Indians lost wickets after that partnership, and wickets kept falling like nine pins as their score went from 83/4 to 87/7. Lost four wickets in a span of four runs. The spin pair of Akeal Hosein and Noor Ahmed created a web.
Sanju Samson’s show in Wankhede
With MI opting to bat first, CSK scored 207/6 in 20 overs with the help of a brilliant century from Sanju Samson. He remained unbeaten on 101 runs and this was his second century in CSK colors and fifth overall.
Sanju last played at his position in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 semi-final against England, where nearly scored 500+ runs as India won by 7 runs. The wicketkeeper batsman played a brilliant inning of 89 runs. This was a top class innings from the batsman.
Also Read: Tilak Verma has heated argument with Jamie Overton during MI vs CSK clash
