IPL's 'El Clasico' between MI-CSK losing its lustre? A look at stats this decade suggesting so

The Mumbai Indians (MI) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK), two five-time Indian Premier League (IPL) winning teams, filled with superstars to the brim, will be taking on each other in the high-octane contest at Wankhede Stadium on Thursday, but the recent trends suggest that the biggest rivalry in the IPL could be losing the big-match feel and lustre attached to it.

MI would be brimming with confidence heading into the home clash against CSK following a sensational bowling performance and a century by Tilak Varma under pressure against the Gujarat Titans (GT), which earned them their second win of the season, while CSK will be aiming to get back to winning after a 10-run loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), which was their fourth of the season.

But the performances of both franchises in two seasons could contribute to fans not viewing this exciting rivalry in the same way as before. Both MI and CSK have lost 21 matches since the 2024 season, the most among top 10 teams in the competition and have won just 15 and 13 matches respectively. In terms of win percentage and performances, both teams are at the bottom half of the table, with MI at ninth and CSK sitting in the bottom place.

This period, on the other hand, has witnessed a rise of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), the champions last year, Punjab Kings (PBKS), the last year's runners-up, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), the finalists of the 2024 edition.

Both the Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings have taken turns to take the wooden spoon, with MI finishing last in 2023, while the Men in Yellow took the bottom spot last year, which has led to a transition within the team and investment in young talent such as Urvil Patel, Dewald Brevis, Sanju Samson, Ayush Mhatre, etc.

Since 2024, as per Cricbuzz stats, MI has lost the most number of matches while chasing (12), followed by CSK, who have lost 10. Despite the heavy star power and potential within the batting line-up, both teams have had their struggles in the chasing department as of late.

Despite two championship titles this decade, Chennai Super Kings have endured three disappointing seasons, with second-last finishes in 2020 and 2022 and a wooden spoon last year. On the other hand, MI has faced two wooden spoons in the 2022 and 2024 seasons. They have won one championship title this decade in 2020 and have had two playoff qualifications since then in 2023 and 2025.

Squads

Mumbai Indians Squad: 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 Squad: 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.