The most loved Indian Premier League team – Chennai Super Kings
The most loved Indian Premier League team – Chennai Super Kings (CSK) is a franchise cricket team from Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. This CSK team participates in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The CSK was founded in 2008. The Chennai Super Kings team plays its home matches at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium. The mentioned Stadium is situated in Chennai. The team is owned and monitored by Chennai Super Kings Cricket Ltd. India Cements is the major stakeholder in the same.
The team had to serve a two-year suspension from the IPL starting July 2015. The suspension was due to the involvement of its owners in the 2013 IPL betting case. The CSK team won the title in its comeback season of 2018.
The team finds its commendable captain in MS Dhoni. The CSK team finds its coach in Stephen Fleming. In January 2022, CSK went on to become India’s first unicorn sports enterprise.
The Chennai Super Kings have won the IPL title four times – 2010, 2011, 2018, and 2021). The team managed to have the highest win percentage of matches among all teams in the IPL (58.98%). They have the records for most appearances in the playoffs (eleven) and the Final (nine) of the IPL.
The CSK team won the Champions League Twenty20 in the years 2010 and 2014. CSK is one of the most valuable IPL franchises.
The highs of the team
Super Kings were trolled intensely and were named “Dad’s Army” after the 2018 auction. But they proved everyone wrong. Shane Watson was one of their several over-30s stars. He went on to deliver their third IPL crown. Watson managed to score an unbeaten hundred in the final. The team could not have asked for a better comeback from a two-year suspension earlier. After their poorest finish ever, in 2020, they won the title in 2021.
The lows of the team
CSK hit their nadir when one of its top officials was arrested on charges of cheating, forgery, and fraud. The official was Gurunath Meiyappan, the son-in-law of Srinivasan. Two years later, the Super Kings franchise was suspended again due to the activities of Meiyappan.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s personal worst season in 2020 was Chennai Super Kings’ worst.
Season by season – Result for CSK
2008 – runners-up
2009 – fourth position
2010 – champions
2011 – champions
2012 – runners-up
2013 – runners-up
2014 – third position
2015 – runners-up
2016, 2017 – suspended
2018 – champions
2019 – runners-up
2020 – seventh position
2021 – champions
2022 – ninth position
Key players to look out for
Mahendra Singh Dhoni
When the analytics changed the T20 landscape, Dhoni continued to trust his instincts to mastermind victories for Chennai Super Kings. While his power-hitting form waned in recent times, he still carves a way to finish games for his franchise. Dhoni has emerged as a cult figure in Chennai.
Suresh Raina
Like Dhoni, Raina was a fan favorite. He made 4687 runs for the CSK team. These runs were the most so far. He had missed only one game for Super Kings over ten seasons. Raina opted out of the 2020 tournament. Raina did not get retained by CSK in the 2022 auction. He remained unsold in the IPL for the first time.
Dwayne Bravo
Bravo registered to be the first player to take 500 wickets in the T20s. Dwayne had variations in his repertoire that included the slower dipping yorker. He became Dhoni’s go-to bowler in the IPL. In the 2013 IPL, he went on to take 32 wickets in 18 matches at an economy of 7.95, the joint record.
Ravindra Jadeja
It is often forgotten that Jadeja has been a part of three other IPL teams because he is so closely associated with Super Kings. Tight and effective as a bowler, Jadeja is a dependable hitter down the order. His presence is electric on the field. He was one of CSK’s stalwarts and the second-highest wicket-taker of all time.
Deepak Chahar
Chahar used to be seen as a batting allrounder but he established himself as a power play swing bowler soon. But he was snapped up by Super Kings in the 2018 auction. Next season he made a comeback with a knuckleball and a back-of-a-length off-cutter in his repertoire. In the 2022 auction, CSK was ready to invest Rs 14 crore (USD 1.8 million) to get him back. But Chahar failed to play due to injuries.
CSK – Batting Stats
- The most runs were scored by Suresh Raina amounting to 5369 runs.
- Most centuries were knocked by Suresh Raina, Murali Vijay, and Shane Watson.
- Most Fifties were accumulated by Suresh Raina that is 37 fifties.
- The fastest Fifty was made by Suresh Raina in 16 deliveries.
- The fastest Century was earned by Murali Vijay in 46 balls.
- The best Batting Average is of David Hussey resting at 58.00.
- The best Strike Rate is for Scott Styris resting at 250.00.
- Most Sixes have been hit by Mahendra Singh Dhoni amounting to 212 sixes.
- Most Fours have been hit by Suresh Raina amounting to 481 fours.
- The highest score by a CSK player in a match is by Murali Vijay which amounts to 127 runs.
Chennai Super Kings – Bowling Stats
- Most Wickets are taken by Dwayne Bravo – 124 wickets
- The best Economy is displayed by Muttiah Muralitharan – 6.28.
- The best Bowling Figure is of Ravindra Jadeja – 4.0-16-5.
- The best Bowling Average is made by Lungi Ngidi – 16.15.
- Most Maidens are under the wings of Ravichandran Ashwin, Deepak Chahar – 5.
- The most Runs Conceded is bagged by Mohit Sharma – 4.0-58-0.
- Most 4 Wickets are knocked by Ravindra Jadeja – 3.
- Most Hat-tricks have been achieved by Shane Watson, Makahya Ntini, and Lakshmipathy Balaji.
CSK – Team Stats
- The highest CSK Team Total was 246/5 achieved against Rajasthan Royals. This total was achieved on the 3rd of April 2010 in Chennai.
- The lowest CSK Team Total was 79 made against Mumbai Indians. The lowest total was featured on the 5th of May 2013 in Mumbai.
Team Performance
| Year | Captain | Result | Top Order Batsman | Runs | Top Bowler | Wickets |
| 2020 | Mahendra Singh Dhoni | 7th | Faf du Plessis | 449 | Sam Curran | 13 |
| 2019 | Mahendra Singh Dhoni | Runners Up | Mahendra Singh Dhoni | 416 | Imran Tahir | 26 |
| 2018 | Mahendra Singh Dhoni | Champions | Ambati Rayudu | 602 | Shardul Thakur | 16 |
| 2017 | Team Suspended | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2016 | Team Suspended | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2015 | Mahendra Singh Dhoni | Runners Up | Brendon McCullum | 436 | Dwayne Bravo | 26 |
| 2014 | Mahendra Singh Dhoni | Playoffs | Dwayne Smith | 566 | Mohit Sharma | 23 |
| 2013 | Mahendra Singh Dhoni | Runners Up | Michael Hussey | 733 | Dwayne Bravo | 32 |
| 2012 | Mahendra Singh Dhoni | Runners Up | Suresh Raina | 441 | Dwayne Bravo | 15 |
| 2011 | Mahendra Singh Dhoni | Champions | Michael Hussey | 492 | Ravichandran Ashwin | 20 |
| 2010 | Mahendra Singh Dhoni | Champions | Suresh Raina | 520 | Muttiah Muralitharan | 15 |
| 2009 | Mahendra Singh Dhoni | Semifinals | Matthew Hayden | 572 | Muttiah Muralitharan | 14 |
| 2008 | Mahendra Singh Dhoni | Runners Up | Suresh Raina | 421 | Manpreet Gony | 17 |
Administration and Staffs of CSK
| Position | Name |
| Owner | N. Srinivasan |
| CEO | Kasinath Viswanathan |
| Team manager | Russell Radhakrishnan |
| Consultant | Sundar Raman |
| Head coach | Stephen Fleming |
| Batting coach | Michael Hussey |
| Bowling coach | Lakshmipathy Balaji |
| Fielding coach | Rajiv Kumar |
| Physio | Tommy Simsek |
| Physical trainer | Greg King |
| Team doctor | Dr. Madhu Thottappillil |