Chennai Super Kings ( சென்னை சூப்பர் கிங்ஸ்) is a franchise cricket team based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu that plays in the Indian Premier League. Founded in 2008, the team is currently captained by Mahendra Singh Dhoni and coached by Stephen Fleming, a former New Zealand cricketer. The team's home ground is the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium (often referred to as Chepauk) located in Chennai.
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, making them the most valuable franchise in the IPL.The Chennai Super Kings (often abbreviated as CSK) is a franchise cricket team based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The team plays in the Indian Premier League. The team was founded in 2008 and this team won ipl cup in the Third season and the successive fourth season. The captain is Mahendra Singh Dhoni and the team is coached by Stephen Fleming, a former New Zealand cricketer.Proving to be the strongest franchise in the Indian Premier League, The team's home ground is the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium (often referred to as Chepauk) located in Chennai.Chennai Super Kings is currently the most successful team in the Indian Premier League team in this season and is by far the best and strongest team in the Indian Premier League. 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. 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 $75.13 million, making them the most valuable franchise in the IPL.
History
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.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.
Krishnamachari Srikkanth, former captain of the Indian cricket team
and the former Chairman of the National Selection Committee, was the
brand ambassador for the franchise until the end of season three when
his 3-year contract expired, and former Indian opener V. B. Chandrasekhar is the Chief Selector.[10] To gather more support from local fans, actor Vijay and actress Nayantara were also appointed as ambassadors, but both have been subsequently removed.
2008 season
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. 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.
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.Chennai also managed to win a close match against Mumbai Indians by 6 runs despite heroic efforts by Mumbai batsman Abhishek 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 and Gautam 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 (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. 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.
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. 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 Tanvir scored a single to give his side the victory.
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
Main article: 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.
2009 season
Main article: 2009 Indian Premier League
The Super Kings bought English all-rounder Andrew Flintoff for $1.55 million at the 2009 auction making him the highest-paid IPL cricketer along with English teammate Kevin Pietersen who was bought for the same amount by Royal Challengers Bangalore. Apart from Flintoff, the Chennai Super Kings also bought Murali Vijay, Thilan Thushara and George Bailey. Stephen Fleming, who had decided to retire from all forms of the game after the first season of the IPL, took over as the coach of the Super Kings team from Kepler Wessels. Their batting department was further weakened as Michael Hussey decided to skip the season in order to focus on international cricket ahead of the Ashes.
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.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 Punjab by 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.
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.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.He was also adjudged Player of the Tournament.
2010 season
- 2010 Indian Premier League
Main article: 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 cricketer Hemang 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.
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. 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 team Mumbai 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 aThey 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 best Net run rate of the four teams which finished on 14 points.He impressed with figures of 2/15 (4 overs) in the high-scoring match.
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.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.Raina won the Man of the Match award while Mumbai skipper Sachin Tendulkar was named Player of the Tournament.
- 2010 Champions League Twenty20
Main article: 2010 Champions League Twenty20
On account of emerging as the Champions of the 2010 Indian Premier League, the Super Kings along with the Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers made it to the 2010 Champions League Twenty20 that was held in South Africa.
They topped Group A with 6 points (3 wins and 1 loss) to qualify for the semi-finals where they had to face Royal Challengers Bangalore at Kingsmead, Durban. After a comprehensive victory of 52 runs by (D/L) method against the Challengers, they played their first CLT20 final at Johannesburg. They beat the Chevrolet Warriors by 8 wickets in the final, becoming the first IPL side to win the CLT20.[29] Murali Vijay won the Golden Bat for scoring the maximum runs in the tournament and Ravichandran Ashwin was the leading wicket-taker and he was awarded the Man of the Series.
2011 season
- 2011 Indian Premier League
Main article: 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. 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.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 the Royal 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 and Suresh 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.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.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. 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.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 Gayle scoring an unbeaten half-century.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.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
Main article: 2011 Champions League Twenty20
The Chennai Super Kings finishing as the Champions of the 2011 Indian Premier League, qualified for the 2011 Champions League Twenty20. They had previously qualified for the 2008 Season which was subsequently cancelled and also the 2010 Season which they went on to become the Champions.
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.
2012 season
Main article: 2012 Indian Premier League
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.They also bought out the contract of Tim Southee who was signed as a replacement player in the previous season.
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.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.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 Smith took 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 at Bangalore 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 skipper Gautam 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 by Ben 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.
Suresh Raina finished as Chennai's leading run scorer with 441 runs and Dwayne Bravo lead the bowling tables with 14 wickets.
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.Before the Auction, Stephen Fleming hinted that the team is looking to boost the local bowling option and also the pace department.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.
Post Auction CSK first signed up the Indian U19 Sensation and TN Allrounder Baba Aparajith and also TN Ranji Player Vijay Shankar.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.
Honours
| Year | Indian Premier League | Champions League Twenty20 |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Runners-up | Cancelled (Q) |
| 2009 | Semifinalists | DNQ |
| 2010 | Champions | Champions |
| 2011 | Champions | Group stage |
| 2012 | Runners-up | Group stage |
| 2013 | Q | N/A |
- Q = Qualified; DNQ = Did Not Qualify
Overall results in IPL
| Year | Matches | Wins | Losses | No Result | Tied | Success Rate | Position | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 16 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 56.25% | 2nd | Runners-up |
| 2009 | 15 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 53.33% | 4th | Semi-finalists |
| 2010 | 16 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 56.25% | 1st | Champions |
| 2011 | 16 | 11 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 64.67% | 1st | Champions |
| 2012 | 19 | 10 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 52.63% | 2nd | Runners-up |
| 2013 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00% | Q | N/A |
| Total | 82 | 47 | 33 | 2 | 0 | 57.32% |
Player salaries
| Nat | Player | Year Contract Signed / Renewed |
Salary | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
MS Dhoni | 2011 | $3,000,000 | ||
|
Ravindra Jadeja | 2012 | $2,000,000 | ||
|
Suresh Raina | 2011 | $1,300,000 | ||
|
Murali Vijay | 2011 | $900,000 | ||
|
Ravichandran Ashwin | 2011 | $850,000 | ||
|
Subramaniam Badrinath | 2011 | $800,000 | ||
 |
Chris Morris | 2013 | $625,000 | ||
|
Albie Morkel | 2011 | $500,000 | ||
 |
Michael Hussey | 2011 | $425,000 | ||
 |
Dwayne Bravo | 2011 | $200,000 | ||
|
Francois du Plessis | 2011 | $120,000 | ||
|
Wriddhiman Saha | 2011 | $100,000 | ||
 |
Nuwan Kulasekara | 2011 | $100,000 |