Chennai Super Kings

Chennai Super Kings are a franchise cricket team based in the city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu. They play in the professional domestic Twenty20 league of India, the Indian Premier League (IPL).

They play their home matches at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, also known as the Chepauk Stadium. They are the most successful franchise in the history of the IPL (along with Mumbai Indians) and have a big fan following in the country.

The side is currently captained by former Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. They also have a star-studded coaching line-up in Stephen Fleming (Head Coach), Michael Hussey (Batting Coach) and Lakshmipathy Balaji (Bowling Coach).

The team dons the yellow jersey and their logo is that of a roaring lion in orange, with the team’s name rendered in blue. The Chennai franchise is so named to honor the rulers of the Tamil Empire.

Having the biggest fanbase in the IPL, recently the Whistle Podu Army (from their theme song “Whistle Podu”), which is the official fan club of Chennai Super Kings, won the “Best Fan Club of the Year” award in a poll conducted by the Indian Sports Honour.

Background

One of the eight original members during the birth of the Indian Premier League, the team was formed in January 2008. The franchise was bought by India Cements for $91 million. The rights for the team were bought for a period of ten years.

The franchise was owned by former ICC Chairman N. Srinivasan owing to his position of Vice-Chairman and Managing Director at India Cements Ltd. for certain period of time. However, the rights were transferred to a separate entity named Chennai Super Kings Cricket Ltd, after the Supreme Court struck down the controversial amendment to the BCCI constitution’s clause 6.2.4.

Achievements

As mentioned earlier, Chennai Super Kings are one of the most successful franchises in the history of IPL, despite being suspended for two years from the league. The Super Kings have won the IPL title thrice (2010, 2011 and 2018) and have been runners-up four times (2008, 2012, 2013, 2015). They have also won the dysfunct Champions League Twenty20 twice (2010, 2014).

The Chennai Super Kings are the first IPL side to retain their IPL title (2010 and 2011) and also the first side to win the double (IPL title and Champions League title) in 2010.

Trajectory of the club

The Chennai Super Kings hit the ground running with the formation of the IPL. In the first season itself, they made it to the finals against Rajasthan Royals, but unfortunately ended up on the losing side. The second season also seemed excellent, where they finished second in the table, but had a disappointing semi-final exit during the playoffs.

However, this was followed by back-to-back titles in the following two years. Chennai Super Kings managed to reach the finals in the following two seasons as well but failed to win the title. However, just when it seemed that CSK were becoming an unstoppable force, they were hit with controversy.

The franchise was involved in a major spot-fixing case in 2013, as N. Srinivasan’s son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan was arrested by the Mumbai Police on charges of placing IPL bets. Two years later, the Supreme Court suspended the owners of two franchises, Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals who were allegedly involved in match-fixing. This suspension effected a ban on the teams for two years. Both the teams made a comeback in the IPL 2018.

IPL 2018

After serving their suspension, CSK made their comeback in the IPL in the 2018 edition. However, they immediately faced major problems as their home matches were threatened by the 2018 Cauvery water dispute. The BCCI eventually decided that the MCA Stadium in Pune would be their temporary new home ground for the remainder of the tournament.

Problems off the pitch, however did not affect the performance on the pitch as CSK got off to a flying start, defeating the defending champions Mumbai Indians in the opening. Chennai went on to finish second in the table, based only on net run rate as they were level on points. They defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad in the first qualifier and then again in the Final to win the IPL 2018 title.

IPL 2019 Auction

CSK retained the majority of their players for IPL 2019, hence they had a comparatively quiet auction. They had only two signings in Mohit Sharma (₹5 cr) and Ruturaj Gaikwad (₹20L). Chennai Super Kings are a franchise cricket team based in the city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu. They play in the professional domestic Twenty20 league of India, the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Team Performance