7 Reasons behind Chennai Super Kings' phenomenal success in IPL across seasons

3. Strong overseas players base

CSK blessed with exceptional overseas talent

CSK has been blessed with a vast number of overseas talents which titled the balance in the team’s favour on a number of occasions.

To start with, CSK had players of the class of Mathew Hayden, Michael Hussey, Muttiah Muralitharan, Doug Bollinger, Dwayne Smith, Albie Morkel, and Brendon McCullum. CSK has shown its aggressive intent in acquiring overseas players like Chris Morris and Dirk Nannes.

Even in the last auction, CSK was quick to spot new players like Lungisani Ngidi and Mitchell Santner. Again when a replacement was needed for the injured Kedar Jadhav, CSK was quick to react and they wisely went for an in-form overseas player David Willey rather than for a local player.

To emphasize the impact the overseas players had on the fortunes of CSK, in the IPL 2010, Doug Bollinger came in as a replacement for the injured Kiwi all-rounder Jacob Oram. Until that stage, CSK was precariously placed in the points table.

But the arrival of Bollinger has changed CSK’s fortune as the team went on to win the title on the back of the bowling performances of Bollinger. In the IPL 2010, Bollinger finished with 12 wickets at an economy of 6.68. CSK went on to retain their IPL title in 2011 where Bollinger’s contribution was 17 wickets.

Like Bollinger, players like Hayden, Hussey, Bravo, Dwayne Smith, and Mccullum have carried the responsibility of seeing the team through on their shoulders at various stages of the league.

In the 2013 season, Hussey was the top scorer with 733 runs while in 2009 it was Mathew Hayden with 572 runs. In 2013, Bravo was the leading wicket-taker with 32 wickets.

CSK’s strong overseas players' pool is one of the main reasons for CSK’s continued success.