CSK's playing XI in their first-ever IPL game: Where are they now?

In the second match of the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) took on the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in a game that immediately succeeded Brendon McCullum's whirlwind 158* in the tournament opener.

Incredibly, the game managed to live up to expectations, as MS Dhoni's men posted a mammoth total of 240, which is still among the five highest team totals in the history of the IPL. Michael Hussey's destructive hundred, along with cameos from Suresh Raina and Subramaniam Badrinath, took CSK to a 33-run win.

In this article, we take a look at where the members of the CSK playing XI in their first-ever IPL game are now.

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CSK's playing XI in their first-ever IPL game (April 19, 2008)

CSK have won the IPL title 3 times under the leadership of MS Dhoni

Parthiv Patel: The opener has gone on to play for several other IPL teams in what has been a journeyman career so far. Moreover, Parthiv has never quite been able to make a spot in the Indian team his own in any format, perhaps due to the presence of his CSK captain MS Dhoni. The wicket-keeper will play for Virat Kohli's RCB in IPL 2020.

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Matthew Hayden: The destructive Australian had retired from all forms of international cricket by January 2009, and played for CSK till 2010 before walking away from the game altogether. Hayden scored over 1,000 runs and was a consistent presence at the top of the order, although his final season did see a slump in form and a Mongoose bat.

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Mike Hussey: Coming in at No. 3 in this game, Mr. Cricket played for CSK for many more years before briefly moving to the Mumbai Indians (MI). Hussey came back to CSK to finish his IPL career and is currently the batting coach of the team. In 59 games in the IPL, the southpaw scored just under 2,000 runs.

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MS Dhoni: Former Indian captain MS Dhoni has led his team to three IPL titles and his country to two ICC titles since this game against KXIP. His international future is currently under immense scrutiny, but Captain Cool is all set to continue playing for CSK in the upcoming edition of the IPL.

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Suresh Raina: The elegant left-hander has had a long and distinguished limited-overs career, but is not in the selectors' plans at the moment. Raina's IPL performances haven't been what they used to be, but he will be keen on winning an international recall with consistent performances in the 2020 IPL.

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Joginder Sharma is serving the country in other ways at the moment

Jacob Oram: The all-rounder played 33 Tests and 160 ODIs for New Zealand, and was crucial to the Kiwi team composition at his prime. Despite his big hitting and handy medium-pacers, however, Oram played only 18 IPL games before disappearing from all forms of cricket in 2013.

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Subramaniam Badrinath: CSK's Mr. Dependable played for the team till 2013, and saved many a game with his gritty batting in crisis situations. However, Badrinath was very unlucky to not play more for India, with only 7 ODI caps and 2 Test caps to his name. He retired from all forms of cricket in 2018.

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Joginder Sharma: Signed by his captain MS Dhoni after his heroics in the 2007 World Cup, the all-rounder had already played his last international game by the time this IPL rolled around. Sharma is currently the Deputy Superintendent of Police in his home state of Haryana, and played for CSK till 2012.

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Palani Amarnath: The pacer didn't experience much success in this season and never played in the IPL afterwards. Amarnath fell off the radar soon after, and played only 15 first-class games and 7 List A matches for Tamil Nadu.

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Manpreet Gony: The 36-year-old has always been on the fringes of various IPL teams, and even made the Mumbai Indians squad in the 2018 and 2019 seasons. After taking 17 wickets in the 2008 IPL, Gony played two ODIs for India against Hong Kong in June of the same year. He retired from all forms of top-level cricket last year.

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Muttiah Muralitharan: Arguably the greatest spinner to ever play the game, the leading wicket-taker in both Tests and ODIs retired after the loss to India in the final of the 2011 World Cup. Murali went on to play for Kochi Tuskers Kerala and Royal Challengers Bangalore, and has been the bowling coach of Sunrisers Hyderabad since 2015.