The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) franchise has been perhaps the crème de la crème of the Indian Premier League (IPL) tournament. The MS Dhoni-led team was the first to win the tournament two-times and that too back-to-back in 2010-2011.
The team was also embroiled in controversy given that it was banned for two years by Justice RM Lodha commission in 2015, as CSK, along with Rajasthan Royals, as their officials were found guilty in an illegal betting and match-fixing probe. The team made a triumphant return to the fold in 2018 and won the trophy for the third time, tying Mumbai Indians for the greatest number of wins.
They lost to MI in the finals of IPL 2019 but still are considered to be one of the most dominant franchises in the tournament, given that they have made it into the playoffs in all the editions they have played in. They have reached the finals eight times and have been runners up 5 times. They have been blessed with many players who have served them a long time and Team COC presents to you the all-time XI of CSK franchise.
Check out the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) all-time XI
Shane Watson was bought by the franchise in IPL 2018 auction despite him being retired from the game a couple of years ago. His batting at the top proved to be decisive for the CSK team as they made their comeback into the IPL fold after two years of suspension and Watson took them to the finals and hit a sublime century against SRH to make them three-time IPL winners. In all, he has made 953 runs in 32 matches with 2 centuries for them with a strike rate of 142.02 and is expected to play in the IPL 2020 as well, given that he was retained by the franchise.
Murali Vijay was their best opener for a long time from 2009-2015. In 67 matches, Vijay has made 1676 runs with 2 centuries and a best of 127, hitting 68 sixes and making 7 half-centuries during his tenure. His ability to play through the innings and accelerate at the end was the reason why he was successful for so long for the team.
Raina is known as ‘Chinna Thala’ lovingly by the Chennai crowd and has been the vice-captain of the side since 2008. He has played the most games in the franchise- 164 and has 4527 runs, which is second on the all-time list. He has scored 32 half-centuries and 1 century during his tenure and has hit 171 sixes and 412 fours to his name. Raina is a certified great of IPL cricket and still is one of the best batsmen in the tourney.
Michael Hussey played for the franchise from 2008-2015 and scored 1768 runs in 50 matches with one century and 13 fifties. He scored his runs at 123.63 strike rate and proved that a conventional batsman can make runs in an unconventional format of the game. He was amazing at what he did and served CSK with much applause.
MS Dhoni is synonymous with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) given that he was the most expensive player bought in the first-ever auction in 2008. Since then he has led the team amazingly well, reaching the finals in 2008 and eight times in total, winning the title, three times and is the only captain to win the IPL and Champions League T20 atleast two times. Dhoni also slammed 3858 runs coming in at no.5 or 6 and has played many a match-winning innings for the team and will also lead the team in IPL 2020.
Dwayne Bravo has been with the team since 2011 and in 89 matches has made 927 runs with two fifties and has taken 104 wickets with his amazingly bowling with the best bowling of 4/42. Bravo has been their man for difficult times and his match-winning innings against MI in 2018 IPL opening match is counted as one of the greatest innings played in the tournament.
Albie Morkel was one of the best players Chennai had in their ranks before Bravo came along. The South African all-rounder was terrific with the bat lower down the order and competent enough with the ball to open the bowling for the franchise on numerous occasions. He scored 827 runs in 78 matches and picked 76 wickets as well.
Ravindra Jadeja was bought by CSK in 2012 after the all-rounder had served a one-year ban. Since that time, Jadeja has become CSK personified with 81 wickets and 865 runs to his name for the yellow brigade in 102 matches. He came into his own as a batsman in the last two editions of the tournament and contributed with the bat as well.
R Ashwin was Chennai’s own boy when he came into the CSK team in 2009. He played 97 matches for the franchise till 2015 and picked 90 wickets with best figures of 3/16. He picked those wickets at an economy of 6.45. This was a shock for the followers of the team when he was released from the team as they made a comeback in 2018 after their suspension.
Deepak Chahar has been the best fast bowler for Chennai Super Kings in recent past picking 32 wickets in 29 matches played. He has swung the ball at the start of the innings and despite bowling in the powerplay, has an economy of 7.40 and has the best bowling figures of 3/15.
Left-arm pacer Ashish Nehra gave his international career a new lease of life when he was picked by CSK in 2014 and made a comeback into the Indian side to play for a few more games with success. Nehra played 20 games for CSK, picking 30 wickets at an economy of 7.67 and his best bowling figures were 4/10.
Chennai Super Kings all-time XI: M Vijay, Shane Watson, Suresh Raina, Michael Hussey, MS Dhoni (C&WK), Dwayne Bravo, Albie Morkel, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Deepak Chahar, Ashish Nehra