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 Chennai Super Kings

Chennai Super Kings

Logo

The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are a franchise cricket team based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, which plays in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Founded in 2008, the team plays its home matches at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. The team served a two-year suspension from the IPL starting July 2015 for the alleged involvement of their owners in the 2013 IPL betting case, and won the title in its comeback season. The team is captained by Mahendra Singh Dhoni and coached by Stephen Fleming.

The Super Kings have lifted the IPL title thrice (in 2010, 2011 and 2018), and has the highest win percentage among all teams in the IPL (61.28). They hold the records of most appearances in the playoffs (ten) and the Final (eight) of the IPL. They are the only IPL team to qualify for the playoff stage in each edition of their appearance in the league. In addition, they have also won the Champions League Twenty20 in 2010 and 2014. The brand value of the Super Kings in 2019 is estimated to be around ₹732 crore (roughly $104 million), making them the second-most valuable IPL franchise, after Mumbai Indians.

Chennai Super Kings
Nickname(s)	CSK
League	Indian Premier League
Personnel
Captain	Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Coach	Stephen Fleming
Owner	India Cements
Team information
City	Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Colours	Yellow
Founded	2008
Home ground	M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
Capacity	50,000
Secondary home ground(s)	Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune JSCA International Stadium Complex, Ranchi
Secondary ground capacity	37,406 and 50,000 respectively
History
Indian Premier League wins	3 (2010, 2011, 2018)
CLT20 wins	2 (2010, 2014)
Official website	chennaisuperkings.com

Franchise history

In September 2007, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the establishment of the Indian Premier League, a Twenty20 competition to be started in 2008. In January 2008, the BCCI unveiled the owners of eight city-based franchises. The Chennai franchise was sold to the India Cements for $91 million, making it the fourth most expensive team in the league behind Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. India Cements acquired the rights to the franchise for 10 years. Former ICC Chairman N. Srinivasan was the de facto owner of the Chennai Super Kings, by means of his position as the vice-chairman and managing director of India Cements Ltd. The franchisee was transferred to a separate entity named Chennai Super Kings Cricket Ltd., after the Supreme Court of India struck down the controversial amendment to the BCCI constitution's clause 6.2.4 that allowed board officials to have a commercial interest in the IPL and the Champions League T20 on 22 January 2015.

Team identity

Team name, logo design, crest and colors

The Chennai franchise named the team as Chennai Super Kings to honour the rulers of the Tamil empire. The word "super" is used commonly in southern India especially in Tamil Nadu. The team name also derives from India Cements' brand "Coromandel King".

The team logo features the head of a roaring lion in orange and the team name rendered in blue. The crown above the team name is the same as that used in the logo of the brand Coromandel King. According to the logo designers, since the lion is the king of the jungle, the roaring lion logo reflects the team name. The details of the logo signifies various qualities such as youth, vibrancy, solid performance orientation and fiery spirit.

The team's primary colour is yellow with blue and orange stripes on either sides of the jersey. The jersey also incorporates the roaring lion logo in the center of the shirt below the logo of the main sponsor Muthoot Group. The basic look of the jersey has remained the same from the first season with no changes except for the sponsor placement. The kit manufacturer until 2014 was Reebok and from 2015, Australian Apparel and Sports Gear manufacturer Spartan manufactures kits for the team.

Theme song

The team's theme song is the "Whistle Podu" designed by Aravind-Shankar (duo of Aravind Murali and Jaishankar Iyer). Although the track was created only for YouTube in 2008, it gained popularity during the 2009 season and later became the team's theme song. The video of the song represents the street dance form of dappangutthu which is very popular among certain communities in Tamil Nadu. It is also a folk dance and music genre employed in Tamil cinema. The recordings of some of the Super Kings players whistling were used in the music video.

The highs

The Super Kings were trolled as a “Dad’s Army” after the 2018 auction, but they proved the critics wrong, with Shane Watson, one of their several over-30s stars, delivering their third IPL crown with an unbeaten hundred in the final. They couldn’t have asked for a better comeback from a two-year suspension.

The lows

The Super Kings hit their nadir when one of their top officials, Gurunath Meiyappan, the son-in-law of Srinivasan, was arrested on charges of cheating, forgery, and fraud, following which he was suspended by the BCCI in 2013. Two years later, the Super Kings franchise was also suspended for Meiyappan’s activities.

Season by season

2008 - runners-up

The Chennai Super Kings had a lot of prominent players such Michael Hussey and Muttiah Muralitharan along with the skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The team entered the finals but was defeated by Rajasthan Royals.

Riding on the brilliance of their seamers and of Dhoni and Suresh Raina with the bat, CSK wrapped up eight wins in 14 league games and beat the Kings XI Punjab with ease in the semi. Then the seamers and Muttiah Muralitharan dragged the final to the last ball, but Shane Warne and Sohail Tanvir ensured a happy ending for the Rajasthan Royals.

CSK 2008

2009 – fourth

The Chennai Super Kings failed to enter the finals as they faced a defeat at the hands of Royal Challengers Bangalore in the semifinals, who had their best performance that season.
The IPL moved to South Africa, where Matthew Hayden, Raina and Murali combined to help the Super Kings finish second on the table. However, the Royal Challengers Bangalore’s local boys Manish Pandey and Vinay Kumar bested them in the semi-final.

2010 – champions

The Chennai Super Kings won their first title in 2010, after they beat Mumbai Indians to win the match.
The season when Dhoni became Chennai’s thala. After CSK blew hot and cold early in the tournament, their captain scorched Kings XI’s Irfan Pathan for 4, 2, 6, 6 in the final over of a must-win clash. In the final, Kieron Pollard threatened to take the game away, but Dhoni stationed Hayden at short mid-off to trap him, and CSK ultimately sealed their first title.

2010 Champion

2011 – champions

The team retained its title, and won two IPL tournaments in a row and became the first team to do so.
CSK turned Chepauk into a fortress this season, winning all their matches there, including the final, against RCB. Suraj Randiv stepped in to fill the Murali-sized hole, and Shadab Jakati and Doug Bollinger had their moments, but R Ashwin was the standout bowler, even taking out Chris Gayle for a duck in the final - in which M Vijay starred with 95 off 52 balls.

ipl champion 2011

2012 - runners-up

The Super Kings reached the finals once again, but a hat-trick title was prevented by the Kolkata Knight Riders who won their first title that season.
Five of their eight victories in the league stage came at home, and then Vijay fashioned a sixth with a century against the Delhi Daredevils, launching CSK into the final. Vijay, Mike Hussey and Raina all came good in that final, but an unheralded Manvinder Bisla denied Dhoni’s men a hat-trick of titles.

2012 ipl final

2013 - runners-up

With another journey to the final, the CSK were stopped this time by Mumbai Indians who claimed their first IPL Title.
A seven-match win streak eased them into the qualifier, where Hussey, in scintillating form that season, saw off Mumbai with a brilliant 86 not out, and set up a title clash against the same opponents. CSK reduced Mumbai to 52 for 4 in the final, but Pollard tipped the scales Mumbai’s way with an unbeaten 60 off 32 balls.

ipl 2013 final

2014 – third

 After a long time, the Chennai Super Kings failed to reach the finals but had a great season in the CLT20.
CSK lost their opening match, against Kings XI in Abu Dhabi, despite piling up 205 for 4. But they won eight of their next nine games on their way to the playoffs once again, despite their home matches being shifted to Ranchi due to a local dispute. Raina shellacked 87 off 25 balls against the Kings XI in the second qualifier, but it wasn’t enough to take them to the final.

CLT20 Champion 2014

2015 - runners-up

Once again, the Chennai Super Kings lost a final to the Mumbai Indians.
Another bumper run at Chepauk, winning six of their seven home matches. They won three on the road to topping the table, and then saw RCB off in the second qualifier. However, Mumbai beat them for the second time in the final. This was an IPL dominated by seamers, with CSK’s Dwayne Bravo finishing atop the wickets charts and Ashish Nehra in fourth place.

2016, 2017 - suspended

2018 – champions

The team returned to the league and won its third IPL title.
CSK played only one game at Chepauk before their home base was moved to Pune because of the Cauvery river water dispute. Lungi Ngidi provided vital breakthroughs on the seam-friendly tracks in Pune, and at the crunch, CSK beat the Sunrisers in the first qualifier as well as the final to return to their title-winning ways.

ipl champion 2018

2019 - runners-up

Chennai Super Kings reached the finals, but failed to win their fourth title.

Finally back to Chepauk, CSK banked on their old spin-to-win template, coming away with six victories in seven home games in the league stage. The solitary defeat came at the hands of Mumbai, where Dhoni sat out to manage his troublesome back. He returned for the first qualifier but Mumbai beat them there, and then again in the final, this time by one run.

ipl 2019 final

Support and fan following

The Super Kings have a large fan following across India colloquially referred to as "Yellow Army". The team has an official fan club called the "Whistle Podu Army" which was founded in January 2016 after the team's suspension from IPL. In 2018 and 2019, there were reports of over 10,000 fans turning up to watch the team's practice sessions. After the team's home games were moved to Pune in 2018, the Super Kings management arranged a charter train between Chennai and Pune, as well as free accommodation, for more than 1,000 fans of the team.

Rivalry with Mumbai Indians

Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians have played against each other more number of times than any other two teams in the IPL. They are the two most successful IPL teams and often termed as "big spenders" at the players auction. The two sides have met each other at the final of the IPL four times, with Mumbai winning thrice and Chennai winning once. Super Kings have a better head to head record against every other team in IPL except Mumbai. The rivalry is often referred to as the El Clasico of IPL.

Key Players

MS Dhoni

MS Dhoni

Even as analytics change the T20 landscape, Dhoni continues to trust his instincts to mastermind victories for the Super Kings. While his power-hitting has waned recently, he still finds a way to finish games for his franchise. Dhoni is well and truly a cult figure in Chennai.

Suresh Raina

Suresh Raina

Much like Dhoni, Raina is a fan favourite in Chennai. He has made 5368 runs in the IPL; only Virat Kohli has more. He missed only one game for CSK over ten seasons before opting out of the 2020 season.

Dwayne Bravo

Bravo, the first player to take 500 wickets in T20s, has several variations in his repertoire, including the slower dipping yorker, and he has become Dhoni’s go-to bowler at the death. In the 2013 IPL, he took 32 wickets in 18 matches at an economy of 7.95. Only Alfonso Thomas has taken more wickets in a T20 league season - 33.

Dwayne Bravo

R Ashwin

CSK let Ashwin go before the 2018 season, but he is still one of their top wicket-takers. He let rip his offbreaks and carrom balls at Chepauk, often fronting up to bowl the tough overs in the powerplay.

R ashwin

Deepak Chahar

Chahar was initially seen as a batting allrounder but he established himself as a swing bowler in the powerplay after being snapped up by CSK in the 2018 auction. In the next season he turned up at the slower Chennai pitches with a knuckleball and a back-of-the-length offcutter added to his repertoire.

Deepak Chahar

Francois du Plessis

The Proteas captain has time and again proved his worth for the franchise in both batting and fielding. He has a strong frontfoot defence, powered by his hard hitting abilities which makes him a very important part of the team. His agility on the field is also a crucial reason why he has been a part of the franchise for long.

Faf Du Plessis

Ravindra Jadeja

The Proteas captain has time and again proved his worth for the franchise in both batting bowling and fielding.

FAQ on CSK:--

1: Why was Chennai Super Kings banned?

A: Chennai Super Kings was banned for two years, i.e. 2016 and 2017 seasons for the betting activities indulged into by one of its key officials, Gurunath Meiyappan.

2: Who is the owner of Chennai Super Kings?

A: The Chennai Super Kings is owned by Chennai Super Kings Cricket Limited, a subsidiary of India Cements.

3: How many times have Chennai Super Kings won IPL?

A: Chennai Super Kings have won 3 IPL Titles – in 2010, 2011 and 2018.

4: Will Dhoni play for CSK in 2020?

A: Yes, Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been named as the captain for the CSK 2020 squad.

5: Whose team is Chennai Super Kings?

A: The Chennai Super Kings is owned by Chennai Super Kings Cricket Limited, a subsidiary of India Cements.

6: Why Chennai Super Kings was banned for 2 years?

In July 2015, Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals were suspended from the cash-rich cricket league for two years for betting activities of their key officials Gurunath Meiyappan and Raj Kundra during the 2013 season. Both the officials were banned for life from being involved in any cricket matches conducted by the BCCI.

The punishment was handed down by a Supreme Court-appointed three-member committee headed by former CJI R M Lodha, which held that the betting activities of the two officials, Meiyappan and Kundra, then a co-owner of Rajasthan Royals, brought the game of cricket, BCCI and IPL into disrepute.

See Also

• Mumbai Indians(MI)
• Rajstan Royals (RR)
• Kolkata Knight Riders(KKR)
• Royal Challengers Bangalore(RCB)
• Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)
• Kings XI Punjab (KXIP)
• Delhi Capitals / Delhi Daredevils(DC/DD)
• IPL