{"id":11741,"date":"2026-05-02T14:40:38","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T09:10:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/on-paper-mumbai-are-stronger-kaif-backs-mi-over-csk-ahead-of-ipl-clash-cricket-news\/"},"modified":"2026-05-02T14:40:38","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T09:10:38","slug":"on-paper-mumbai-are-stronger-kaif-backs-mi-over-csk-ahead-of-ipl-clash-cricket-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/on-paper-mumbai-are-stronger-kaif-backs-mi-over-csk-ahead-of-ipl-clash-cricket-news\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;On paper, Mumbai are Stronger&#8217;: Kaif backs MI over CSK Ahead of IPL clash | Cricket News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"e9jwa\">\n<div class=\"vdo_embedd\">\n<div class=\"GfdvZ\">\n<section class=\"_bIDB  clearfix id-r-component leadmedia undefined undefined  E9tg9 \" style=\"top:0px\">\n<div class=\"_bIDB\" data-ua-type=\"1\" onclick=\"stpPgtnAndPrvntDefault(event)\">\n<div class=\"ypVvZ\">\n<div class=\"WGttI\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-130712939,imgsize-78654,width-400,height-225,resizemode-4\/csk-thrash-mi.jpg\" alt=\"'On paper, Mumbai are Stronger': Kaif backs MI over CSK Ahead of IPL clash\" title=\"MI and CSK players after the match. (Pic credit: IPL)\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Ta7d_ img_cptn\"><span title=\"MI and CSK players after the match. (Pic credit: IPL)\">MI and CSK players after the match. (Pic credit: IPL)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Former India cricketer <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/topic\/mohammad-kaif\" styleobj=\"[object Object]\" class=\"\" commonstate=\"[object Object]\" frmappuse=\"1\">Mohammad Kaif<\/a> believes <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/topic\/mumbai-indians\" styleobj=\"[object Object]\" class=\"\" commonstate=\"[object Object]\" frmappuse=\"1\">Mumbai Indians<\/a> hold the edge over <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/topic\/chennai-super-kings\" styleobj=\"[object Object]\" class=\"\" commonstate=\"[object Object]\" frmappuse=\"1\">Chennai Super Kings<\/a> ahead of their high-profile IPL 2026 clash, citing the depth and experience in Mumbai\u2019s squad.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"7\"\/>Chennai Super Kings (CSK) host Mumbai Indians (MI) tonight, May 2, 2026, at the M. <!-- -->A. Chidambaram Stadium (Chepauk) in a high-stakes &#8220;El Cl\u00e1sico&#8221; that could determine playoff survival for both struggling five-time champions.<!-- --> Both teams are languishing in the bottom half of the table, CSK sits at No. 6 with 6 points, while MI is 9th with just 4 points from eight games.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"12\"\/>In their previous meeting this season, Chennai Super Kings dominated their arch-rivals with a massive 103-run victory. <!-- -->Sanju Samson<!-- --> starred with an unbeaten 101, guiding CSK to a formidable total of 208. The bowlers then took charge, with <!-- -->Akeal Hosein<!-- --> leading the charge with figures of 4\/17 as Mumbai Indians were bundled out for just 104.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"20\"\/>He received solid support from Noor Ahmad, Mukesh Choudhary, Jamie Overton, Anshul Kamboj and Gurjapneet Singh, who all chipped in with wickets to seal a comprehensive win.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"22\"\/>Speaking on Star Sports ahead of the much-anticipated \u2018El Clasico\u2019 clash, Kaif said that while Mumbai Indians look stronger on paper, their inconsistent form remains a concern.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"24\"\/>\u201cOn paper, Mumbai Indians look stronger than Chennai Super Kings because they have a lot of match-winners and experienced players. But when you look at recent form, questions arise because MI haven\u2019t been winning consistently. That said, on their day, if they play a dominant brand of cricket, they can be very hard to stop,\u201d Kaif said.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"28\"\/>Kaif also pointed out that CSK\u2019s heavy reliance on Samson could prove to be a weakness in a high-pressure contest.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"30\"\/>\u201cChennai, on the other hand, have largely depended on Sanju Samson so far. They are relying heavily on his performances to win games. That\u2019s why Mumbai head into this crucial match with the upper hand,\u201d he added. <span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"32\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/sports\/cricket\/ipl\/ipl-2026\/on-paper-mumbai-are-stronger-kaif-backs-mi-over-csk-ahead-of-ipl-clash\/articleshow\/130712929.cms\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MI and CSK players after the match. (Pic credit: IPL) Former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif believes Mumbai Indians hold the edge over Chennai Super Kings ahead of their high-profile IPL 2026 clash, citing the depth and experience in Mumbai\u2019s squad.Chennai Super Kings (CSK) host Mumbai Indians (MI) tonight, May 2, 2026, at the M. A. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11742,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[263],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-11741","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11741","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11741"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11741\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}