Chennai Super Kings (CSK) vs Mumbai Indians (MI): The intense rivalry between both five-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Mumbai Indians (MI) in the third match of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2025) makes this Super Sunday much more exciting for all fans.
Both teams have retained their core players and captains from the previous edition, having a common aim to become the IPL champions for the sixth time.
While Ruturaj Gaikwad continues as the Super Kings captain, Mumbai will play their campaign opener of the IPL 2025 without their regular skipper Hardik Pandya. This is because the Indian all-rounder serves a one-match ban due to the slow over-rate offense committed by his team in the last match of the previous season.
Although the MI franchise officially announced Suryakumar Yadav as the skipper for their opening game, it is a double blow to miss their core pacer Jasprit Bumrah’s contributions in the initial stages of the league due to a back injury.
It’s time for every dedicated enthusiast to dive deeper into this preview by finding out the important details such as the head-to-head stats, weather, pitch conditions, toss-winning skipper’s decision, predicted playing XI, and impact players. This helps you predict the winner of the forthcoming contest between the two most successful teams in the league’s history.
Chennai vs Mumbai IPL 2025 3rd Match Details
| Date and Day | March 23 (Sunday) |
| Venue | M.A Chidambaram Stadium (Chepauk Stadium) in Chennai |
| Seating Capacity | 38,000 |
| Timings | 07:30 pm IST |
| Live Streaming | JioHotstar |
| TV Channel | Star Sports Network |
CSK and MI Performance in their Campaign Opener of Every IPL Season
While Chennai Super Kings holds a mix of wins and losses, MI has lost 12 consecutive matches in their campaign opener of every IPL season since 2013. The following comparison illustrates the performance of both teams in their first match of the league starting from the inaugural edition in 2008 to the previous one in 2024:
| Edition | CSK | MI |
| 2008 | Won by 33 runs vs PBKS | Lost by 5 wickets to RCB |
| 2009 | Lost by 19 runs to MI | Won by 19 runs vs CSK |
| 2010 | Lost by 31 runs vs DCH | Won by 4 runs vs RR |
| 2011 | Won by 2 runs vs KKR | Won by 8 wickets vs DC |
| 2012 | Lost by 8 wickets to MI | Won by 8 wickets vs CSK |
| 2013 | Lost by 9 runs to MI | Lost by 2 runs to RCB |
| 2014 | Lost by 6 wickets to PBKS | Lost by 41 runs to KKR |
| 2015 | Won by 1 run vs DC | Lost by 7 wickets to KKR |
| 2016 | Not Played due to 2-Year Ban | Lost by 9 wickets to RPS |
| 2017 | Lost by 7 wickets to RPS | |
| 2018 | Won by 1 wicket vs MI | Lost by 1 wicket to CSK |
| 2019 | Won by 7 wickets vs RCB | Lost to DC by 37 runs |
| 2020 | Won by 5 wickets vs MI | Lost by 5 wickets to CSK |
| 2021 | Lost to DC by 7 wickets | Lost to RCB by 2 wickets |
| 2022 | Lost to KKR by 6 wickets | Lost to DC by 4 wickets |
| 2023 | Lost to GT by 5 wickets | Lost to RCB by 8 wickets |
| 2024 | Won by 6 wickets vs RCB | Lost to GT by 6 runs |
| TOTAL: | 7 Wins and 8 Losses out of 15 campaign opener games for CSK | 4 Wins and 13 Losses out of 17 campaign opener games for MI |
CSK vs MI Head-to-Head Stats: Overall IPL Matches, Campaign Opener, and At Chepauk
Overall IPL Matches (From 2008 to 2024):
| Matches Played | 37 |
| Winnings | CSK: 17, and MI: 20 |
| No Result / Tied Matches | 0 |
| Highest Total for CSK | 218/4 in 20 overs (IPL 2021) |
| Highest Total for MI | 219/6 in 20 overs (IPL 2021) |
| Lowest Total for CSK | 79 all-out in 15.2 overs (IPL 2013) |
| Lowest Total for MI | 136/8 in 20 overs (IPL 2021) |
Campaign Opener:
| Overall Matches for CSK in IPL Campaign Openers vs MI | 5 (in 2009, 2012, 2013, 2018, and 2020) |
| Overall Matches for MI in IPL Campaign Openers vs CSK | 4 (in 2009, 2012, 2018, and 2020) |
| Winnings | CSK: 2, and MI: 2 |
At Chepauk:
| Matches Played at Chepauk (CSK vs MI) | 8 |
| CSK Winnings | 3 |
| MI Winnings | 5 |
CSK vs MI IPL 2025: Weather Reports, Pitch Conditions and Toss Factor
- Weather:
- Temperature during the match: 27 °C to 30 °C
- Wind Speed: 15 km/hr to 25 km/hr
- Cloud Cover: 35%
- Chances of Rainfall: 25% to 30%
- Pitch Nature: The spin-friendly pitches at Chepauk help spinners to dominate as the game progresses, particularly in the second innings.
- Decision to be taken after winning the toss: The toss-winning captain would decide to bat first, as it becomes challenging for batters while chasing targets.
Probable Playing XI and Impact Player Combination for CSK and MI in 3rd Match of IPL 2025
CSK and MI might prefer this best combination of playing XI (allowed upto 4 overseas players) and choose one out of five impact players in the third match of IPL 2025:
CSK Best Playing XI Combination and Impact Player Predicted:
Starting XI Lineup:
| S.NO | Player | Role |
| 1. | Ruturaj Gaikwad (Captain) | Batter |
| 2. | Rachin Ravindra (Overseas Player) | All-rounder |
| 3. | Devon Conway (Overseas Player) | Batter |
| 4. | Rahul Tripathi | Batter |
| 5. | Shivam Dube | All-rounder |
| 6. | Ravindra Jadeja | All-rounder |
| 7. | MS Dhoni | Wicketkeeper-Batter |
| 8. | Ravichandran Ashwin | All-rounder |
| 9. | Vijay Shankar | All-rounder |
| 10. | Anshul Kamboj | Bowler |
| 11. | Noor Ahmed (Overseas Player) | Bowler |
5 Possible impact players to be listed during the toss:
| S.NO | Player | Role |
| 1. | Matheesha Pathirana (Overseas Player / Preferred Impact Player) | Bowler |
| 2. | Sam Curran (Overseas Player) | All-rounder |
| 3. | Mukesh Choudhary | Bowler |
| 4. | Shreyas Gopal | Bowler |
| 5. | Khaleel Ahmed | Bowler |
MI Best Playing XI Combination and Impact Player Predicted:
Starting XI Lineup:
| S.NO | Player | Role |
| 1. | Rohit Sharma | Batter |
| 2. | Ryan Rickelton (Overseas Player) | Wicketkeeper-Batter |
| 3. | Suryakumar Yadav (Captain) | Batter |
| 4. | Tilak Varma | Batter |
| 5. | Will Jacks (Overseas Player) | All-rounder |
| 6. | Naman Dhir | All-rounder |
| 7. | Mitchell Santner (Overseas Player) | All-rounder |
| 8. | Raj Angad Bawa | All-rounder |
| 9. | Karn Sharma | Bowler |
| 10. | Deepak Chahar | Bowler |
| 11. | Ashwani Kumar | Bowler |
5 Possible impact players to be listed during the toss:
| S.NO | Player (All Overseas) | Role |
| 1. | Trent Boult | Bowler |
| 2. | Corbin Bosch | All-rounder |
| 3. | Mujeeb Ur Rahman | Bowler |
| 4. | Reece Topley | Bowler |
| 5. | Bevon Jacobs | Batter |
Winner Prediction of IPL 2025 3rd Match: Chennai or Mumbai?
Despite the head-to-head stats favoring Mumbai Indians, there are higher chances for Chennai Super Kings to start their IPL 2025 campaign on a winning note. This is because MI would be under pressure to break the jinx of losing their 12 straight season openers since 2013.
At the same time, Mumbai’s success rate at Chepauk, having won 5 out of 8 games against Chennai makes them the toughest rival to watch out for.
Overall, this Sunday guarantees that fans will be entertained by a high-octane clash between the two batting powerhouses of the IPL.