The team has won the IPL title twice in succession (
2010 and
2011) and reached the
play-offs every season. They were also the first Indian team to have won the
Champions League Twenty20. They are also the only team going into the sixth season without changing their captain. The leading run-scorer of the side is
Suresh Raina, while the leading wicket-taker is
Albie Morkel. The brand value of Chennai Super Kings in 2012 was estimated at
US$75
.13 million
[2], making them the most valuable franchise in the IPL.
The Chennai Super Kings are one of the nine teams of the
Indian Premier League. They are the most successful and consistent team in IPL history. Their captain is the current Indian skipper,
Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The franchise is currently owned by
India Cements, who paid $91 million to acquire the rights to the franchise for 10 years in 2008.
[11] N. Srinivasan, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of India Cements Ltd., is the de facto owner of the Chennai Super Kings, by means of his position within the company. He is also the President of the
BCCI.
[edit]2008 season
- 2008 Indian Premier League
During the first
player auctions for the
inaugural IPL season, conducted in January 2008, the Chennai team bought a number of contemporary star cricketers such as
M.S. Dhoni,
Hayden,Stephen Fleming,
Muttiah Muralitharan and
Michael Hussey. Dhoni became the costliest player of the auction, as the Chennai franchise bought him for $1.5 million.
[13] They also bought Indian players such as
Suresh Raina,
Parthiv Patel,
Lakshmipathy Balaji and
Joginder Sharma and foreign players like
Makhaya Ntini,
Albie Morkel and
Jacob Oram. Apart from these they signed several Indian domestic players like
Badrinath,
Gony,
Ashwin,
Vidyut,
Anirudha,
Tyagi,
Jakati and
Mukund. To gather more support from local fans, actor
Vijay and
actressNayantara were also appointed as ambassadors, but both have been subsequently removed.
The Super Kings got a solid start in the tournament by winning their first game against
Kings XI Punjab by 33 runs, after scoring 240/5 which was the highest total of the tournament, a record surpassed by themselves in 2010 by scoring 246 runs.
[14] Chennai also managed to win a close match against
Mumbai Indians by 6 runs despite heroic efforts by Mumbai
batsmanAbhishek Nayar. Then they went on to beat
Kolkata Knight Riders comforatbly by 9 wickets and
Royal Challengers Bangalore by 13 runs in their next two games. But their winning run in the tournament took a hit when their overseas stars
Matthew Hayden,
Michael Hussey and
Jacob Oram had to leave for national duties. Their departure immediately affected their performance as they lost their next three games. The batting, although inconsistent, eventually adjusted to the losses of Hayden and Hussey with contributions from
Mahendra Singh Dhoni,
Suresh Raina and
Albie Morkel. In the home game against
Delhi Daredevils,
CSK were unable to defend a target of 170 due to half-centuries by Delhi openers
Virender Sehwag andGautam Gambhir. At
Jaipur against the home team
Rajasthan Royals, the Super Kings batsmen struggled against Pakistani fast-bowler
Sohail Tanvir who picked up the best bowling figures in the IPL 2008 (6/14). This was also the best bowling figures in a Twenty20 match until 2011, when
Somerset spinner
Arul Suppiah took figures of 6 for 5 against
Glamorgan. CSK lost another home game to
Deccan Chargers which was only the second victory for the latter in the tournament. Chennai
beat Delhi Daredevils in their next game by chasing a mammoth score of 188, mainly due to the cameos by
Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan, Fleming and Morkel. In their next game, CSK defeated Kings XI Punjab by 18 runs after
Subramaniam Badrinath and skipper Dhoni struck half-centuries. The match also witnessed CSK's
Lakshmipathy Balaji claiming the first hat-trick of the tournament and in the process also got the first five-for (5/24 in 4 overs) in IPL history. However, they were crushed by the Mumbai Indians in
Mumbai after opener
Sanath Jayasuriya struck an unbeaten 114
of just 48 balls for the home team, to hand a 9-wicket defeat to the Super Kings. In their eleventh match of the season, they beat the Kolkata Knight Riders by 3 runs (D/L method) in a rain-affected match at he
Eden Gardens. In the same match,
Makhaya Ntini took the third hat-trick of the tournament and won the
Man of the match award for his 4/32 in 4 overs. The Super Kings were unable to chase down a modest total of 127 after cruising at 60/0 at one stage and suffered a shock defeat at the hands of
RCB. In another home game, against Rajasthan Royals, CSK went down by 10 runs chasing 212. Albie Morkel's all-round efforts (2/35 in 4 overs and 71 off 40 balls) went in vain as the Super Kings succumbed to a second straight defeat. In their last league fixture, the Super Kings could easily beat the struggling Deccan Chargers by 7 wickets, with Raina
scoring an unbeaten half-century. The Super Kings, despite having a roller-coaster ride in the second half, managed to ensure a semi-final slot with this win as they finished in third place with 16 points.
[15]
The side played their semi-final against the
Kings XI Punjab, whom they managed to defeat by 9 wickets, thus entering the final. Electing to bat first, Kings XI managed to score only 112/8 in their 20 overs as CSK bowlers dented the innings with wickets at regular intervals.
[16] The Chennai outfit faced the resurgent
Rajasthan Royals in the final which was played at the
DY Patil Stadium in
Navi Mumbai. Batting first, Chennai made a decent total, 163/5, in their 20 overs, with Raina top-scoring with 43 and
Parthiv Patel also contributing 38 useful runs. Rajasthan's run-chase was in trouble at one stage, with the scoreboard reading 42/3 in the seventh over. However, Rajasthan's all-rounder
Shane Watson added 57 runs for the fourth wicket with
Yusuf Pathan, who went on to score 56 off just 39 balls. With 8 required off the last over for the Royals with 3 wickets in hand, the match went down to the last ball,
off which
Sohail Tanvirscored a single to give his side the victory.
[17] Royals' all-rounder Yusuf Pathan won the Man-of-the-Match award for his all-round performance. The Chennai Super Kings won $600,000 prize money as they finished the tournament as runners-up.
- 2008 Champions League Twenty20
Chennai Super Kings, being the runners-up of the
IPL, were among the first sides to secure a berth
for the event. However, the tournament was cancelled due to
2008 Mumbai Attacks and Chennai Super Kings, along with
Rajasthan Royals, received $1.3 million as compensation.
[edit]2009 season
The Chennai Super Kings were defeated in their first game of the tournament by the
Mumbai Indians by 19 runs. Mumbai skipper
Sachin Tendulkar scored an unbeaten half-century and speedster
Lasith Malinga picked up 3/15 in 4 overs.
[20] The Super Kings comprehensively beat the
Royal Challengers Bangalore in their next game by 92 runs, thanks to
Matthew Hayden's 65 (35). CSK, however, lost against the
Delhi Daredevils by 9 runs at
Durban, where Delhi batsman
AB de Villiers scored the first century of the season. Hayden, once again starred with the bat as he scored 57 off 27 balls. After an abandoned game against
Kolkata Knight Riders at
Cape Town, CSK lost to the
Deccan Chargers by 6 wickets, giving the latter their fourth consecutive win of the season. But they bounced back in the tournament by winning their next five games. Riding on
Suresh Raina's 98 (55), Chennai beat
Rajasthan Royals by 38 runs at
Centurion. In the next match against the power-packed
Delhi Daredevils, left-arm spinner
Shadab Jakati impressed with figures of 4/24 as he picked up the crucial wickets of
Warner,
Dilshan and
Dinesh Karthik, giving his team an 18-run victory. At
East London, the Super Kings beat
Deccan Chargers by 78 runs, with skipper
MS Dhoni scoring 58* and spinner Jakati (4/22 in 4 overs) shining with the ball once again. They won their next game against
Kings XI Punjabby 12 runs in an 18-overs-a-side match. CSK opener
Matthew Hayden top-scored with 89 (58), a knock that overpowered half-centuries from KXIP's
Yuvraj Singh and
Simon Katich. With
Subramaniam Badrinath scoring an unbeaten fifty, Chennai cruised to their fifth consecutive win, by beating
Rajasthan Royals by 7 wickets. Their winning streak came to an end against the Royal Challengers in a low-scoring thriller in Durban.
RCB won the match by two wickets with two balls to spare after Chennai were bundled out for 129 in the first innings where Hayden scored a blistering half-century. They were able to beat the Mumbai Indians at
Port Elizabeth by 7 wickets, thanks once again to Hayden who notched up yet another half-century. Despite scoring 188/3 in 20 overs, the Super Kings went down on the last ball of the match to
Kolkata Knight Riders, who were propelled by fifties from
Brendon McCullum and
Brad Hodge. In their last league encounter, the Chennai Super Kings successfully defended a score of 116/9 against Kings XI Punjab. This still remains the record for the lowest successfully defended total in the history of IPL. This win also ended Punjab's chances of reaching the semi-finals.
[21]
The Super Kings finished with 17 points from 14 matches and earned a second place
at the league table. However, at the semi-finals, the Super Kings' hopes of entering the final for a second time were crushed by the resurgent
Royal Challengers who beat them by 6 wickets. CSK could put up only 146 on the board despite getting a brisk start from the openers. The Challengers chased down the total with 7 balls to spare after
Manish Pandey and
Rahul Dravid set the platform for the run-chase with scores of 48 and 44 respectively.
[22] Matthew Hayden of CSK, who scored 572 runs in 12 innings with 5 half-centuries at a staggering average of 52 and strike-rate of 145, won the Orange Cap for the leading run-scorer of the season.
[23] He was also adjudged Player of the Tournament.
[edit]2010 season
- 2010 Indian Premier League
The Super Kings added
Justin Kemp and
Thisara Perera to their roster, one filling an empty slot while the other serving as a substitute
to Andrew Flintoff, who had planned to skip that season. They also roped in former
ICL cricketerHemang Badani and local all-rounder
C. Ganapathy. Australian pacer
Doug Bollinger was drafted as the replacement player for all-rounder
Jacob Oram who was injured before the start of the tournament.
[24]
The Chennai Super Kings began their campaign against the defending champions,
Deccan Chargers, in a match which they lost by 31 runs. In their second match, they trounced the
Kolkata Knight Riders by 55 runs, as captain
MS Dhoni scored an unbeaten 66 that came off only 33 balls. During the match Dhoni picked up an injury after he was hit on the arm by a rising delivery from
Shane Bond.
[25] The injury forced Dhoni to sit out of the tournament for a week during which
Suresh Raina took over the captaincy of the team. Then they also managed to beat
Delhi Daredevils comforatbly by 5 wickets as
Matthew Hayden blasted 93 off 43 deliveries. Their fourth match of the season, against
Kings XI Punjab, went to the
Super Over after the match ended in a tie. In the Super Over, CSK set Punjab a target of 10, which the latter chased down comfortably with two balls to spare. They lost to the formidable
Royal Challengers in the next match after RCB batsman
Robin Uthappa scored an unbeaten 68 to help his team put up a big total on the board. At
Mumbai,
Suresh Raina smashed an unbeaten 83 to take his team to 180/2 in 20 overs. But, the home
teamMumbai Indians chased down this total, thanks to their openers
Sachin Tendulkar and
Shikhar Dhawan, both of
who struck fifties. This game also marked the return of their skipper Dhoni who had to miss three games due to injury. They lost their fourth game on
trot after they went down to
Rajasthan Royals by 17 runs at
Ahmedabad. The losing streak came to an end after
Murali Vijay cracked 78 (39) against the Royal Challengers to help his team chase down a target of 162. Vijay continued his fireworks in the next game against Rajasthan Royals, smashing 127 (56) with the help of eight fours and 11 sixes. He combined with
Albie Morkel (62 off 34 balls) to set up the biggest total in the history of IPL (246/5). CSK managed to win the game by 23 runs despite
Naman Ojha's 94* and
Shane Watson's
quickfire 60. The match also witnessed the IPL debut of pacer
Doug Bollinger, who became a vital cog in their bowling attack. He impressed with figures of 2/15 (4 overs) in the high-scoring match.
[26] They could beat the consistent
Mumbai Indians at
Chepauk with an all-round performance by
Suresh Raina. Raina impressed again in the next game against Deccan Chargers by scoring 52, but this knock could not save CSK from a 6-wicket defeat. In another home game, they convincingly beat the
Kolkata Knight Riders by 9 wickets with 39 balls to spare. Spinner
Ravichandran Ashwin, who had a terrific season with the ball, delivered once again with figures of 4–0–16–3. His effort was ably supported by the CSK batsmen Vijay (50* from 40) and Raina (78* from 39). However they lost to Delhi Daredevils by 6 wickets after
poor showing by the batsmen. Delhi skipper
Gautam Gambhir won the Man of the Match for his unbeaten 57. Their last league match, a do-or-die for Chennai, was at the picturesque
Dharamsala against
Kings XI Punjab. The match is remembered for CSK skipper Dhoni's blistering innings of 54* (29) that turned the match on its head to give Chennai an improbable win. He was well supported by Raina's 46 (27) and
Subramaniam Badrinath, who scored 53 (36) to set up the
chase of 192. They ended their league fixtures with 14 points from as many matches, finishing with the same number of points as three other teams with two semi-final spots at stake. CSK got the third place as they had the
bestNet run rate of the four teams which finished on 14 points.
[27]
In the semi-final at
Navi Mumbai, the Super Kings bundled out the
Deccan Chargers for 102 after setting them a target of 143, winning the game by 38 runs to book their place in the finals. Bollinger won the Man of the Match for his amazing effort of 4–1–13–4.
[28] The win also assured them a place in the
2010 Champions League Twenty20. At the IPL final, the Chennai Super Kings took on the tournament favorites
Mumbai Indians. CSK, electing to bat first after winning the toss, were reeling at one stage with the score of 68/3 after 12 overs. But then, Raina produced, what turned out to be a match-winning innings, 57* (35), as his team put up 168/5 in 20 overs. Mumbai Indians' chase never got going as they kept losing wickets and eventually lost the match by 22 runs. Chennai Super Kings crowned themselves the Champions of the tournament for the first time.
[29] Raina won the Man of the Match award while Mumbai
skipperSachin Tendulkar was named Player of the Tournament.
- 2010 Champions League Twenty20
[edit]2011 season
- 2011 Indian Premier League
The Chennai Super Kings retained 4 players for the
2011 Indian Premier League which include
MS Dhoni,
Suresh Raina,
Murali Vijay and
Albie Morkel.
[32] At the mega-auction, the Chennai Super Kings bought
Michael Hussey,Ravichandran Ashwin,
Dwayne Bravo,
Doug Bollinger,
Wriddhiman Saha,
George Bailey,
Nuwan Kulasekara,
Sudeep Tyagi,
Suraj Randiv,
Ben Hilfenhaus and
Francois du Plessis for the fourth edition, looking to retain the same core team that performed for them from 2008 to 2010.
[33] Also after the World Cup, Chennai Super Kings signed New Zealand pace bowler
Tim Southee as a replacement to Hilfenhaus who was ruled out of the tournament due to an injury.
The Super Kings started their IPL 2011 campaign with a thrilling two-run win against
Kolkata Knight Riders in Chennai. Opener
Anirudha Srikkanth won the Man of the match for scoring 64. But the Super Kings lost their second game to the
Kings XI Punjab, despite setting KXIP a target of 189, after a stellar innings by Punjab's
Paul Valthaty who hit the first century of the season (an unbeaten 62-ball 120).
Michael Hussey's 83* took them to a comfortable win over
theRoyal Challengers Bangalore before their loss to the
Kochi Tuskers Kerala in a rain-affected match
at the latter's home ground. This match was followed by another thriller against
Mumbai Indians which the Super Kings lost by 8 runs as Mumbai's spinner
Harbhajan Singh achieved his career-best T20 figures of 5/18 in 4 overs during the match. However, in their next match at home against
Pune Warriors India,
Michael Hussey scored a half-century and the bowlers bowled economically to defend a total of 142. Two days later, against the same team in an away match, a brilliant spell of 3/21 by Man of the match
Doug Bollinger and a match winning partnership between
Subramaniam Badrinath andSuresh Raina saw the Super Kings complete a double over the Pune team. Against the
Deccan Chargers they registered their third straight win, thanks to the all-round effort of
Albie Morkel who took three crucial wickets and scored 19 from just 6 deliveries. Bollinger and Jakati also picked up two wickets each and bowled economically which helped them to overcome a stunning innings from the Chargers' opener
Sunny Sohal.
[34] They secured their fifth straight home victory against the
Rajasthan Royals. Chasing a modest target of 148, Hussey, who struck 79* off just 55 balls, and
Suresh Raina, 61* off 51 balls, put on an unbeaten century partnership to take Chennai to a comfortable eight-wicket win.
[35] This was followed by a defeat to the Kolkata Knight Riders in a rain-affected match at the
Eden Gardens. A couple of days later, their batting came good in a crucial game against the Rajasthan Royals in
Jaipur, where all the top-four batsmen scoring 40-plus runs, which they won comprehensively by 63 runs. The Chennai Super Kings extended their home record by defeating the
Delhi Daredevils and moving to the top of the table.
MS Dhoni won the
Man of the match for his brilliant innings of 63* (31), which was supported by
Subramaniam Badrinath who also struck a half-century.
[36] The Super Kings played their last home game against the Kochi Tuskers Kerala and won it by eleven runs
.Wriddhiman Saha top-scored for CSK with a resilient 46*. With this win, they created a new record
of becoming the first team to win all their home matches in the history of the
Indian Premier League.
[37] They faced the toppers of the points table, Royal Challengers Bangalore in their final league game at
Bangalore. Dhoni's belligerent innings of 70* (40) was responsible for Chennai's total of 128/8 which was chased down with ease by the home side with
Chris Gaylescoring an unbeaten half-century.
[38] The Super Kings finished second on the table with 18 points from 14 matches as they had a better
net run rate than the
Mumbai Indians who had the same number of points.
The Chennai team faced the table-toppers Royal Challengers in the first Qualifier at the
Wankhede Stadium in
Mumbai. Dhoni, who won the toss, asked RCB to bat first. RCB lost their star batsman
Chris Gayle early but still managed to put on 175 on board riding on a blistering 70* by
Virat Kohli. Chennai's run-chase got off to a disastrous start as both the openers were dismissed within the second over. But then,
Suresh Raina put on crucial fifty run partnerships with Badrinath and Dhoni, taking CSK closer to the target. But after the dismissal of Dhoni, 45 was required from 20 deliveries and a victory seemed improbable. Then
Albie Morkel produced a stunning cameo (28* from just 10 deliveries) which propelled the Super Kings to a six-wicket win with two balls to spare. Raina won the
Man of the match for his unbeaten 73. The win took them to the finals which was to be played at their home ground. This was the third time in four seasons that they had entered the finals of the IPL.
[39] They met the same team,
Royal Challengers Bangalore at the final, as RCB defeated the
Mumbai Indians in the second Qualifier. CSK won the toss once again, this time elected to bat first. They got off to a flying start as openers
Michael Hussey and
Murali Vijay shared a record first-wicket partnership of 159 runs before Hussey got out for 63. Vijay continued his big hitting and struck four fours and six sixes in his innings of 95. Chennai ended their 20 overs on 202/5, which was the highest total at the venue in that season.
R Ashwin struck in the very first over of the RCB innings removing Chris Gayle for a duck. The Super Kings bowlers kept picking wickets and eventually won the game rather comfortably by 63 runs and were crowned champions for the second time in succession. Murali Vijay was declared the Man of the Match for his match-winning innings.
Thus, the
2011 season ended up as Chennai's most successful season because not only did they successfully defend the title, but also assert their dominance in the league with a win percentage of 64.11, their highest in four seasons. They maintained an absolute home record in the season and became the first team to win the tournament at home. They also won the Fairplay Award for the third time in four years.
- 2011 Champions League Twenty20
Starting as the defending champions, the Super Kings faced IPL rivals
Mumbai Indians to whom they lost a very close game in the ending moments of the match due to
Lasith Malinga's unexpected resurgence. Chennai fought back in another game of nerves and ended up victorious against the South African side of
Cape Cobras with a man of the match performance from
Dwayne Bravo. However Chennai's performance staggered in the clash against Trinidad and Tobago who registered a tremendous victory in a very crucial game. CSK, who then faced the 2009 Champions and presently-defunct
NSW Blues in a must-win encounter, was eliminated after a decisive win for the visitors led by
David Warner's hundred.
In the end, Chennai finished at the bottom of the Group with just 2 points while IPL counterparts Mumbai Indians and NSW Blues proceeded to the knockout phase.
[edit]2012 season
In the 2012 players auction, the Super Kings bought
Ravindra Jadeja, for a whopping $2 million (
9.72
crore), the bid which turned out to be the biggest draw in the players' auction for the fifth edition of the Indian Premier League.
[40] They also bought out the contract of
Tim Southee who was signed as a replacement player
in the previous season.
The Super Kings started their IPL 2012 campaign with a 8-wicket loss to
Mumbai Indians in the tournament opener in Chennai. CSK
were bundled out for 112 before
Richard Levi struck a fifty for the visiting team to set up the victory.
[41] Ravindra Jadeja came up with a brilliant all-round performance (48 off 29, 5/16) to help his team to a resounding 74-run win over
Deccan Chargers in their second home game. In their first away game of the season, the Super Kings lost to
Delhi Daredevils in by 8 wickets after another poor show by the batsmen. Their win against
Royal Challengers Bangalore was made possible by
Albie Morkel, who smashed 28 runs from the 19th over bowled by
Virat Kohli, and Jadeja who hit a boundary off the last ball of the match to see his side chase down the target of 206. South African
Francois du Plessis was adjudged Man of the match for his innings of 71.
At Pune, after restricting the Super Kings to 155,
Jesse Ryder and
Steve Smithtook the
Pune Warriors home with four balls to spare to hand a third defeat to CSK in five games. However they beat the same opponents at home by 13 runs after
du Plessis and
Subramaniam Badrinath scored fifties in the first innings.
du Plessis struck another half-century (73
off 52) to take Chennai to their second consecutive win. Their next game, which was supposed to be played
atBangalore against the Royal Challengers, was washed out without a ball bowled due to rain. They suffered a shock home defeat against
Kings XI Punjab as they failed to chase the target of 157. KXIP's
Mandeep Singh was awarded the Man of the match for his resilient 56. They lost another home game by 5 wickets to
Kolkata Knight Riders whose run chase was anchored by
skipperGautam Gambhir's half-century. Chennai got back to winning ways with a 10-run win over the struggling
Deccan Chargers despite a belligerent knock by the Chargers' vice-captain
Cameron White. The Super Kings then lost to Mumbai Indians off the last ball of the match.
Dwayne Smith, who was playing his first match of the season
for Mumbai, hit 14 runs off the last three balls bowled
byBen Hilfenhaus to take his team to a dramatic victory. The loss severely dented CSK's chances of progressing to the Playoffs. In another thrilling match, Chennai beat Rajasthan Royals by four wickets mainly due to cameos by Albie Morkel and
Anirudha Srikkanth, both scoring unbeaten six-ball 18. In their last home match of the league stage, Chennai
comprehensively beat the Delhi Daredevils by nine wickets. Against Kolkata Knight Riders, needing five to win on the last ball for CSK,
Dwayne Bravo smashed a six over long-on off the bowling of
Rajat Bhatia to take them to a thrilling 5-wicket win. Needing a win to assure their place in the Playoffs, they lost to
Kings XI Punjab by 7 wickets at
Dharamsala in their last league match. However Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings, both ended up with 17 points from 16 games, but the latter managed to get the fourth spot on the points table due to a better
net run rate.
The team played
Mumbai Indians in the Eliminator
at Bangalore. After losing two wickets early, Hussey and Badrinath stitched a crucial 94-run third wicket partnership to take the team to a respectable position. Then skipper
MS Dhoni and Dwayne Bravo scored 73 runs in the last five overs to set up a score of 187/5 in 20 overs. Mumbai in their run-chase got off to a flying start before a dramatic batting collapse. CSK spinners Ashwin and Jakati picked up one wicket each and bowled seven economical overs between them that proved decisive in the context of the match. CSK won the match by 38 runs and Dhoni was given the Man of the Match for his 51* (20). The win took them to the second Qualifier at
Chennai, a match against
Delhi Daredevils to decide who plays in the final. Daredevils won the toss and put Chennai
into bat and this decision backfired. Opener
Murali Vijay, who had a quiet season until then, came to his own striking a century (113 runs from 60 deliveries, 15 fours and four sixes) to take his team to a mammoth 222/5. The bowlers backed up the good batting by bowling
tight line and length and picking up wickets at regular intervals. Only
Mahela Jayawardene showed some resistance
for Delhi with a knock of 55 but to see his team lose by 86 runs. The big win booked CSK's place in the final at their home ground Chennai against the
Kolkata Knight Riders. This was the fourth time in five seasons, that CSK had made it to the final of the IPL. Chennai elected to bat in the final and the batsmen backed the decision with another stellar show. After a solid opening partnership between Hussey and Vijay,
Suresh Raina played his best innings of the season scoring an unbeaten 38-ball 73. Chennai went on to make 190/3 in 20 overs. Kolkata lost the big wicket of their skipper Gambhir in the first over of the run-chase. Then
Manvinder Bisla, who was playing his first game in two weeks, took on the bowlers single-handedly and scored 89 from 48 balls. Batting at three,
Jacques Kallis not only scored 69 (49) but also put up a crucial second-wicket stand of 136 runs with Bisla. However, the game swung CSK's way after KKR lost four wickets in as many overs. After the fall of Kallis in the 19th over,
KKR needed 16 runs to win from 7 balls. KKR went on to win the game by five wickets with two balls to spare thanks to two consecutive boundaries from
Manoj Tiwary in the last over. The Knight Riders secured their maiden IPL title with this win and Bisla won the Man of the Match award.
[42][43]
Suresh Raina finished as Chennai's leading run scorer with 441 runs and Dwayne Bravo lead the bowling tables with 14 wickets.
[edit]2013 season
By the end of October 2012, the IPL teams were given an opportunity to trim their squad. With which CSK retained 16 players of their 2012 squad. They released George Bailey, Doug Bollinger, Joginder Sharma, Suraj Randiv, Yo Mahesh, Abhinav Mukund, Scott Styris, Sudeep Tyagi, K Vasudevadas, G Vignesh from their squad.
[44]
Before the Auction, Stephen Fleming hinted that the team is looking to boost the local bowling option and also the pace department.
[45] In the auction, Chennai Super Kings did not bid for a single batsman. They picked up five bowlers instead, which Gurunath Meiyappan, who was part of the Super Kings auction team, said was their sole objective. They failed to buy
seamers RP Singh, Kane Richardson and James Faulkner and
allrounders Abhishek Nayar and Thisara Perera.
Dirk Nannes was their first buy, but their most surprising purchase was South Africa's bowling
allrounder Chris Morris
for $625,000. Soon after getting Morris, Super Kings went after the Sri Lankan spinner Sachithra Senanayake too, but lost him to Kolkata Knight Riders. Towards the end of the auction they picked up Australian
seamer Ben Laughlin, Sri Lankan spinner Akila Dananjaya and the towering West Indian quick Jason Holder, all at base price.
[46]
Post Auction CSK first signed up the Indian U19 Sensation and TN Allrounder Baba Aparajith and also TN Ranji Player Vijay Shankar.
[47] In a continuation of their auction strategy, Chennai Super Kings have beefed up their bowling department further by signing five Indian uncapped bowlers. The players are UP fast bowlers Imtiaz Ahmed and Ankit Rajpoot, Haryana quick Mohit Sharma, Karnataka pacer Ronit More and Tamil Nadu left-arm spinner R Karthikeyan.
[48]
Match I: Super Kings started their season again with a loss, in their home ground, in a tight match against Mumbai Indians. Though the bowlers started restricting and take regular wickets,
Pollard's onslaught helped Mumbai Indians reach 148. Super Kings batsmen stumbled through the
chase with many of them
falling for cheap shots. The skipper and captain of Chennai Super Kings
Mahendra Singh Dhoni got the Chennai Super Kings back into the game
by a scoring
a amazing 51 of just 26 ball including 5 boundaries and 3 maximums and a strike rate of 196.15. He played superbly and was going for a maximum when unfortunately he got out with Pollard taking the catch of MSD, once again proved the match winner for Mumbai Indians
[49]
Match II: In the second match at Mohali, CSK won over KXIP with an astounding 10 wicket win. Winning the toss and opting to bowl, CSK's bowlers were constantly taking the wickets and bowled out KXIP for 138. David Hussey and Gurkeerat Singh helped KXIP to stabilize in the middle overs until Ashwin and Bravo struck back. Michael Hussey and Murali Vijay started the chase in a slow and steady manner. Once they were settled Hussey's blows made the run chase too easy with CSK
winning it with 10 wickets and 16 balls to spare. Vijay playing the second fiddle reached his half century in run a ball. Mike Hussey was awarded Man of the Match for his clean-hit 86 off 54 balls.
[50]
Match III: CSK's third match was one of the best matches in all of the IPL so far.
the Arch-rivals of
CSK, RCB made 165 with the help of Kohli's 58 and AB De Villiers' cracking 64 off 32 balls. Batting CSK lost its openers cheaply at a poor
runrate. Badrinath and Raina
doing the repairs
at the middle stages, Dhoni and Jadeja
tweeking in the pre-last stages, CSK was made to get 29 runs from
last 11 balls when Dhoni got out.
WIth short Cameos from Bravo and Morris, it was all down to Ravindra Jadeja to score 2 runs in the last ball. Off which, he gave a catch to the third man.
Kohli was rejoicing the win and seeing the umpire giving the
No ball, it was confirmed a CSK's win.
[51] Post Match, many Jadeja's jokes started to revolve the Internet. MSD tweeted "When you give Sir Ravindra Jadeja one ball to get 2 runs he will win it with one ball to spare !!"
[52]
Match IV:: Playing their 3rd game at home and facing a relatively low-threatening
Pune Warriors India, CSK played one of its most lethargic
display at the field. Bringing in
Anirudha and
Albie Morkel in the team
for Mike Hussey and Mohit Sharma, CSK nowhere showed the wish to win the game. Pune dominated from the first with the power hitting of Aaron Finch and
late surge from Steven Smith. Pune reached a competitive 159. Later Super Kings showed what over-confidence
do to you, with getting getting out cheaply and for horrible shots. Only with the exception of Badrinath and Jadeja, there was no sincere effort displayed. Finally CSK lost the game by 24 runs.
[53]
Match V:: CSK played against the sulking
Delhi Daredevils who are struggling to record their first win this season. CSK chose to bat first after winning the toss and set a pretty solid target of 170.
Michael Hussey and
Mahendra Singh Dhoni played their ace game with good support from
Suresh Raina. DD started their wobbly innings with
David Warner cheaply gone for 1 run and wickets continued to fall in short intervals. DD succumbed to a meager 83. This could be considered as one of the worst performances of DD and they have to win 9 of the next 10 games they have ahead of them.
Current squad
- Players with international caps are listed in bold.
- * denotes a player who is currently injured/unavailable.
- * denotes a player who is unavailable for the entire season.
Courtesy: en.wikipedia.org
