Chennai Super Kings

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) is an Indian professional cricket franchise based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The team competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and was one of the eight franchises incorporated when the league was established in 2008. The team plays its home matches at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai and is owned by Chennai Super Kings Cricket Limited.

Super Kings is the joint-most successful IPL franchise, having won five IPL titles (shared with Mumbai Indians). In the IPL, they have appeared in a record 10 finals and qualified for the playoff stages 12 times out of the 15 seasons they have played, more than any other team. Super Kings have also won the Champions League Twenty20 twice in 2010 and 2014. The team is currently captained by Ruturaj Gaikwad and coached by Stephen Fleming.

The team was suspended for two years from the IPL starting July 2015 due to the involvement of its owners in the 2013 IPL betting case. Super Kings re-joined IPL for the 2018 season and won the title in its comeback season. The team has a significant fan following. In January 2022, CSK became India's first unicorn sports enterprise. As of 2022, it was the second most valuable IPL franchise with a valuation of $1.15 billion.

Early years (2008–09)
In September 2007, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the establishment of the Indian Premier League (IPL), a Twenty20 competition with the inaugural season to be held in 2008. Chennai was one of the eight city-based franchises unveiled for the inaugural edition in 2008.

The first player auctions for the inaugural IPL season was conducted in January 2008. MS Dhoni, who was the captain of the Indian team, was bought by the Super Kings for $1.5 million, the most expensive buy at the auction. The franchise bought other international cricketers such as Suresh Raina, Matthew Hayden, Stephen Fleming, Muttiah Muralitharan and Michael Hussey. Ahead of the inaugural season, the franchise named Dhoni as the captain of the team and appointed Kepler Wessels as the head coach. Super Kings played their first game in the IPL on 19 April 2008 against Kings XI Punjab at Mohali, which they won by 33 runs. The Super Kings finished the league stage in third place with eight wins from 14 games. They beat Kings XI Punjab by nine wickets in the semifinal. The Super Kings faced the Rajasthan Royals in the final at Mumbai which they lost by three wickets. By finishing as runners-up, the Super Kings qualified for the inaugural season of the inaugural Champions League Twenty20 (CLT20). The tournament was later cancelled due to the 2008 Mumbai attacks and the Super Kings received $5 million as compensation for the same.

Ahead of the 2009 season, Stephen Fleming took over as the head coach of the Super Kings. At the player auction, Super Kings bought English all-rounder Andrew Flintoff for $1.55 million, making him the joint highest-paid IPL cricketer. Hussey decided to skip the IPL season to focus on The Ashes. The Super Kings finished the league stage in second place with 17 points from 14 matches. In the semi-finals, they were beaten by Royal Challengers Bangalore by six wickets. Super Kings opener Matthew Hayden, who scored 572 runs in the tournament, won the Orange Cap for the leading run-scorer of the season.

Championship and further success (2010–12)
In 2010, the Super Kings struggled in the first half of the regular season, winning only two matches out of seven. They won five of their next seven games including a must-win encounter against Kings XI Punjab at Dharamshala. With seven wins from 14 matches, Chennai finished the league stage in third place to qualify for the semi-finals for the third consecutive season. In the semifinal, the Super Kings scored a modest 142/7 in 20 overs against defending champions Deccan Chargers but before restricting the Chargers to 104 for a 38-run victory. The Super Kings defeated Mumbai Indians by 22 runs in the final to secure their first ever IPL title. With the win, the Super Kings qualified for the 2010 Champions League Twenty20 that was held in South Africa. At the Champions League, the Super Kings finished at the top of Group A with three wins and a defeat. In the semi-final at Durban, the Super Kings defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore by 52 runs. In their first CLT20 final at Johannesburg, they beat the Chevrolet Warriors by eight wickets to win the tournament. Murali Vijay, who won the Man of the Match in the final, was awarded the Golden Bat for scoring the most runs in the tournament, and Ravichandran Ashwin, who was the leading wicket-taker, was adjudged the Player of the Series.

For the 2011 IPL season, two new teams were added and a fresh auction was to be held. The IPL Governing Council declared that each franchise could retain a maximum of four players of their current squad with a restriction that only three of them can be Indian players, and the Super Kings retained captain MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Murali Vijay and Albie Morkel. At the auction, they bought back some of the old players such as Hussey, Ashwin, Bollinger and Subramaniam Badrinath. In the 2011 season, they finished second in the league stage with nine wins and five loses. They faced Royal Challengers Bangalore in the qualifier which they won by six wickets to qualify for the final. In the final, they beat Royal Challengers in Chennai to win a second consecutive IPL title with Vijay named as Man of the Match for his innings of 95 runs. At the Champions League held later that year, the Super Kings won only one out of their four group matches and finished at the bottom of the table.

Ahead of the 2012 IPL season, the franchise signed up Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja for $2 million at the players' auction. Super Kings won only five of their first 12 games before winning three of their last four matches to qualify for the playoffs. In the playoffs, they beat the Mumbai Indians by 38 runs and league stage table-toppers Delhi Daredevils by 86 runs in consecutive matches to qualify for the final. In the final, the Super Kings lost to Kolkata Knight Riders by five wickets. In the Champions League, the Super Kings did not progress past the group stage and ended with two wins from four matches.

Consistent performance and suspension (2013–17)
Ahead of the 2013 season, the Super Kings strengthened their bowling attack by signing up five new bowlers. In the IPL season, they finished on top of the group stage points table for the first time with 11 wins from 16 matches. During the season, they also equaled the record for most wins in succession in the IPL with seven wins. In the first qualifier at Delhi against Mumbai Indians, the Super Kings won by 48 runs, aided by unbeaten half-centuries from Hussey and Raina, to qualify for the final. In the final against Mumbai Indians at Kolkata, the Super Kings lost the match by 23 runs. Michael Hussey top scored with 733 runs, winning the Orange Cap for the most runs in the season, while Dwayne Bravo won the Purple Cap for the most wickets (32). The Super Kings qualified for the Champions League which was held in India in September–October. They won three of the four matches in the group stage to qualify for the semi-finals, in which they suffered a 14-run defeat to Rajasthan Royals at Jaipur.

In May 2013, Gurunath Meiyappan, who was the team principal of the Super Kings, was arrested by Mumbai Police on charges of placing bets on IPL matches. In February 2014, a three-member panel appointed by the Supreme Court of India inquired into the betting case and indicted Meiyappan for illegal betting during the 2013 IPL season.

Before the 2014 season, Chennai retained Dhoni, Raina, Jadeja, Ashwin and Bravo ahead of the players' auction. At the auction, the franchise bought Brendon McCullum, Dwayne Smith, Faf du Plessis, Ashish Nehra and Mohit Sharma among others. The first phase of the IPL season was held in the UAE with the second phase returning to India, but the Super Kings' home matches were shifted from Chennai to Ranchi due to a dispute between the Government of Tamil Nadu and the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association. The Super Kings started the season with eight wins in their first ten matches before suffering from a dip in form towards the end of the regular season, but recovered to finish third in the points table to qualify for the playoffs. In the first match of the playoffs, they beat Mumbai Indians by seven wickets before losing to Kings XI Punjab in the next match. In the 2014 Champions League, the Super Kings won two matches to finish second in the group table to qualify for the semifinal. They beat Kings XI Punjab in the semi-finals by 65 runs. At the final in Bangalore, the Super Kings defeated IPL champions Kolkata Knight Riders by eight wickets to win their second CLT20 title. Raina finished as the highest run-scorer of the tournament and was awarded Man of the Tournament.

Ahead of the 2015 season, they got Michael Hussey back and also bought Kyle Abbott, Irfan Pathan and Andrew Tye among others in the players' auction. In the group stage, the Super Kings topped the table with nine wins from 14 matches. In the playoffs, Chennai lost by 25 runs to Mumbai in the first match before defeating Royal Challengers in the next match to qualify for the final. In the final, they lost against Mumbai by 41 runs. After the end of the season, on 14 July 2015, the RM Lodha committee, appointed by the Supreme Court of India, suspended Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings from the Indian Premier League for a period of two years due to the association of their owners with illegal betting.

Comeback (2018–20)
Ahead of the players auction in 2018, the Super Kings retained Dhoni, Raina and Jadeja. In the auction, du Plessis and Bravo were bought back. Ahead of the Super Kings' return to the IPL after two seasons, anticipating fans even turned up for the practice sessions held at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai before the start of the tournament. The Super Kings started off with a one wicket win over the Mumbai Indians in their first match in over two years. They finished the league stage in second place to qualify for the playoffs. Chennai beat Sunrisers Hyderabad in the first qualifier to qualify for the final before beating the same opponent in the final to win the league for the third time. The Super Kings also became the first team to defeat an opposing team (Sunrisers Hyderabad) four times in a single season.

In 2019 season, the Super Kings finished second in the league stage with nine wins from 14 matches. In the playoffs, they lost to Mumbai Indians in the first match before beating Delhi Capitals in the next match to enter the final for a record eighth time. In the final, the Super Kings lost to Mumbai by one run to lose the title. Super Kings' bowler Imran Tahir, who took 26 wickets, won the Purple Cap for bagging the most wickets.

Before the 2020 season, CSK bought Sam Curran, Josh Hazlewood and Piyush Chawla at the players' auction. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the IPL was initially postponed and later shifted to the UAE. Many members of the Super Kings' team tested positive for the coronavirus, and players such as Raina and Harbhajan Singh pulled out citing personal reasons. In the first match, the Super Kings beat the defending champions Mumbai Indians. The team finished 7th overall in the group stage points table and failed to make it to the playoffs for the first time. Captain MS Dhoni drew a lot of criticism from the supporters over his form and team selection. As a result of the poor performance, the franchise released many of the players including Piyush Chawla, Kedar Jadhav and Murali Vijay before the player auctions for the 2021 season.

Further success and transition (2021–present)
During the 2021 player auctions, the Super Kings bought Cheteshwar Pujara, Krishnappa Gowtham and Moeen Ali and traded Robin Uthappa from Rajasthan Royals. In the season, the Super Kings won five of the first seven matches before the season was suspended midway due to rising COVID cases. The second leg of the IPL resumed in the UAE with the Super Kings finishing second in the group stage to qualify for the playoffs. In the playoffs, the Super Kings beat Delhi Capitals to reach the finals for the ninth time in their history. In the finals, the Super Kings beat Kolkata Knight Riders to clinch their fourth IPL title.

Before the start of the 2022 IPL season, CSK announced that Ravindra Jadeja will replace MS Dhoni as the captain. After a poor start to the season in which the Super Kings lost six of the first eight matches, Jadeja gave up his captaincy to MS Dhoni on 30 March 2022. The Super Kings finished ninth out of the ten teams in the group stage and failed to qualify for the playoffs for only the second time in their IPL history.

In the players' auction before the start of the 2023 IPL season, Super Kings bought Ben Stokes, Kyle Jamieson and Ajinkya Rahane. Bravo retired and re-signed with the team as their bowling coach, replacing Lakshmipathy Balaji. At the beginning of the season, Deepak Chahar and Kyle Jamieson were ruled out, and the expensive pick Stokes had to rest for almost the entire season due to various injuries. The team finished second in the group stage with 17 points and eight wins. The Super Kings won the qualifier against the table toppers Gujarat Titans, making it into their tenth IPL finals in 14 seasons. In the final which was held in Ahmedabad, the Super Kings beat defending champions Gujarat Titans by five wickets to win a record equaling fifth title.

In the players' auction before the 2024 season, the Super Kings bought Daryl Mitchell, Sameer Rizvi, Shardul Thakur, Mustafizur Rahman and Rachin Ravindra. On 21 March 2024, Dhoni handed over the captaincy of the team to Ruturaj Gaikwad. The Super Kings had a mixed season with seven wins and losses, finishing with 14 points. They were tied with three other teams in the competition for the last play-off spot (fourth) but finished fifth behind Royal Challengers on net run-rate after the loss to the same team in the final match. Hence, they failed to qualify for the IPL playoffs for only the third time in their history.

Crest and colors
The franchise was named as Chennai Super Kings in honor of the rulers of the erstwhile Tamil kingdoms. The name was chosen from over 25,000 entries in a naming contest. The team logo features the head of a roaring lion in orange with a crown and the team name rendered in blue. The team's primary color is yellow and the current jersey introduced in 2021 incorporates a camouflage pattern at the shoulders and a roaring lion background pattern. The team's anthem is titled "Whistle Podu", the latest version of which was released in 2018.

Grounds
Chennai Super Kings play their home matches at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium (also known as "Chepauk") in Chennai. It is one of the oldest cricket stadiums in India. The stadium is owned by the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association and has a seating capacity of 38,000. The stadium is often referred to as "Fortress Chepauk" and "Lions' den".

In 2014, Chennai Super Kings played their home matches at JSCA International Cricket Stadium at Ranchi due to issues with Government of Tamil Nadu regarding the participation of Sri Lankan players. In 2018, Chennai Super Kings played six of the home games at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune after members of political parties staged protests outside the Chepauk stadium and the Tamil Nadu Police indicated their inability to provide security for the matches.

Brand
Chennai Super Kings has consistently been one of the most valuable sporting franchises in India. In February 2013, London based Brand Finance evaluated the top 150 most valuable teams in the world, in which the Super Kings was placed in the 147th place with a brand value of $46 million. In January 2022, CSK became first unicorn sports enterprise in India. In 2022, Super Kings were the second most valuable IPL franchise with a valuation of roughly $1.15 billion.

Sponsorship
Telecom service provider Aircel became the first shirt sponsor after they signed a three-year deal in 2008 which was then renewed in 2011 for inr 850000000, then the most expensive sponsorship deal in IPL. Muthoot Group was the principal shirt sponsor from 2018 to 2020 after which Myntra took over as the principal shirt sponsor for the 2021 season. In 2022, tyre maker TVS Eurogrip signed up with the franchise as the principal shirt sponsor on a three-year deal worth over inr 1000000000. Etihad Airways signed as one of the principal sponsors ahead of 2024 season which will see the Etihad brand displayed on the backside of the jersey. The team also has sponsorship deals with India Cements, Gulf Oil, SNJ Breweries, Reliance Jio, Astral Pipes, ICICI Bank, Coca-Cola and Vision11. Reebok, owned by German brand Adidas, was the official kit supplier for the Super Kings from 2008 to 2014. For the 2015 season, Australian apparel and sports gear manufacturer Spartan manufactured kits for the team. Indian apparel brand SEVEN became the official merchandising partner of the Super Kings in 2018. Chennai Super Kings is registered as a brand and sells cricket kits, apparel and other merchandise.

Support
Super Kings have a significant fan following and are colloquially referred to as "Yellow Army". The team has an official fan club called the "Whistle Podu Army" which was founded in January 2016. The team has the highest social media following among IPL teams with over 33 million followers across Twitter, Facebook and Instagram as of March 2023. The home matches register significant attendance with fans often turning up to watch the team's practice sessions at Chennai. When the team's home games were moved to Pune in 2018, a charter train was arranged between Chennai and Pune to ferry the fans.

Mumbai Indians rivalry
Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians have played against each other more than 35 times in the IPL. They are the two most successful IPL teams with five titles each. The two sides have met each other at the final of the IPL four times, with Mumbai winning thrice and Chennai winning once.

Royal Challengers Bangalore rivalry
The rivalry between Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore is called the "Southern derby" or "Kaveri derby" (from the Kaveri River and the water dispute between the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu). The Super Kings beat the Royal Challengers in the final of the 2011 IPL, the only meeting between the two teams at an IPL final.

Ownership and finances
When IPL was launched in 2008, the Chennai franchise was sold to the India Cements for $91 million, making it the fourth most expensive team in the league. N. Srinivasan, who was then the treasurer and vice-chairman of BCCI, became the de facto owner of the Chennai Super Kings since he was the managing director of India Cements. The BCCI regulations, which prevented any administrator from holding commercial interests in the matches conducted by the board, were amended not to include the IPL following the same. In September 2008, former BCCI President A. C. Muthiah went to the Madras High Court to restrain BCCI from allowing Srinivasan to participate in the general body meeting. However, the suit was dismissed by the High Court and Srinivasan was re-elected as the Secretary of BCCI the following day. Muthiah then moved to the Supreme Court to stop Srinivasan from taking over as the President of BCCI, which was rejected and Srinivasan was elected as the President of BCCI. On 22 January 2015, the Supreme Court stuck down the 2008 amendment to the BCCI constitution that allowed board officials to have a commercial interest in the IPL and as a result, the Super Kings franchise was transferred to a separate entity named Chennai Super Kings Cricket Limited.

As of 2021, about 30% of the franchise is owned by the trustees and shareholders of India Cements. Super Kings recorded revenues of inr 4178000000 with a net profit of inr 1112000000 for FY 2018-19. In the FY 2020-21, the revenue dropped to inr 2537000000 with a net profit of inr 402000000. The franchise generates revenues from broadcasting deals, match day tickets, in-stadium advertising and merchandise sales. Majority of the revenue comes from broadcasting rights which contributes about 60% of the total revenue, followed by around 20% from sponsorship and about 10-15% from ticket sales.

Captains
MS Dhoni led the team from 2008 to 2023 and is one of the most successful captains in the IPL, having led the Super Kings to ten finals of which the team has won five. In 2022, Ravindra Jadeja was appointed as the captain, succeeding Dhoni. But Jadeja relinquished the captaincy after 10 games following a poor start to the 2022 season. Ruturaj Gaikwad was appointed as captain before the start of the 2024 season.

Last updated: 5 May 2024; Source: ESPNcricinfo

Indian Premier League
Source: IPLT20 website

Champions League Twenty20
Source: ESPNcricinfo

By opposition
Matches include records from both the IPL and CLT20.

 Last updated: 18 May 2024 

In popular culture
In 2019, a documentary web series titled Roar of the Lion aired on Disney+ Hotstar which dealt with the ban of Chennai Super Kings from the Indian Premier League in 2016 and their return to win the title in 2018.