IPL 2019: 5 things Chennai Super Kings have done right to become the most successful T20 team in the world

#2 Retention of the core

CSK have always believed in retaining the core and the approach has been quite fruitful for them

CSK were the only team in the first mega-auctions in 2011 to retain most of their players who played for them in the 2010 season. The result was they became the first and only team to defend their title. Dhoni, Raina, Vijay, Hussey, Morkel, Badrinath, Ashwin, and Bollinger were some of the first choice XI players who were retained in that auction.

Ever since then, CSK have maintained the strategy of continuity not only in the playing XI but also in the squad selection. This not only helped in enhancing an already loyal fan base but also made the job for the management a lot easier as most of the players were already acquainted with the team culture and understood their roles.

Even in the 2018 season, when they returned after serving a two-year ban, they retained the majority of their core from the 2015 squad, Ashwin being the notable absentee. Despite not being in the reckoning for India in limited overs, Ashwin was in the radar of CSK only in order to retain the core. Not only that, the support staff including coach Stephen Fleming, bowling coach L Balaji and batting mentor Mike Hussey were all part of CSK before and hence drafting them in helped both the players as well as the coaches.