The most eagerly awaited comeback for the IPL this year was that of the Chennai Super Kings team. The yellow jersey is back in the IPL after completing the two-year suspension imposed due to the charges of corruption. Chennai boasts one of the greatest fan bases which is extremely devoted to its beloved team. Their joy knew no bounds when MS Dhoni’s return at the helm of CSK was confirmed.
Chennai Super Kings – IPL History
Year | Matches | Wins | Losses | No Result | Tie | Win % | End Position |
| 2008 | 16 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 56.25% | 2nd |
| 2009 | 15 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 53.33% | 4th |
| 2010 | 16 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 56.25% | 1st |
| 2011 | 16 | 11 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 68.75% | 1st |
| 2012 | 20 | 11 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 57.89% | 2nd |
| 2013 | 18 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 61.11% | 2nd |
| 2014 | 16 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 62.50% | 3rd |
| 2015 | 17 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 58.80% | 2nd |
Best Performance:
The Chennai franchise is the most dominating and intimidating team in the IPL. They have won the IPL twice and have been runner-ups for four times. In 2010 and 2011, they were the IPL winners and won the Champions League T20 as well, which made them the global champions.
Their most successful season as per win percentage was 2011. MS Dhoni who had just won the ODI World Cup for his team led Chennai to an astounding 11 wins in the season and played an influential role in the Final played against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Also Read: IPL 2018 Preview: Royal Challengers Bangalore – The Cursed Gods
Worst Performance:
Picking out the worst performance of Chennai is quite a difficult task, they have always been winning matches and have never dropped below the fourth position in the rankings.
Hence even in their worst performance, one of their players won the orange cap and the award of the player of the tournament. In the 2009 IPL Season, Chennai ended 2nd in the group table but lost to RCB in the semi-final to crash out of the league.
Strength:
The greatest strength of CSK without a doubt is their captain, MS Dhoni. He was removed from the captaincy of the Pune team last season but at CSK he cannot play as anyone else but the Captain.
The second pillar on which Chennai depends is Suresh Raina. One of the most successful batsmen in the IPL, Raina is never out of the form when he wears the yellow jersey.
CSK will also ride heavily in the experienced batting line-up they have. All their batsmen have batted extensively in the IPL and are well-prepared to tackle any situation.
The biggest advantage Super Kings enjoy is their fan support and the home ground. The CSK team knows every blade of the grass at the Chidambaram stadium and their fans will turn up as the 12th player of the team.
Weakness:
Over the years, CSK never had any glaring weakness but this year they may just have to cover up one. Their inexperienced fast bowlers. Be it Ngidi or Mark Wood or Shardul Thakur or Deepak Chahar. No one has really set the stage on fire in the IPL and it may prove as the biggest roadblock in Chennai’s winning ways.
Even the ardent Dhoni fans will have to agree that he is not the same explosive batsman anymore. Besides him, CSK does not have a finisher who can launch the ball outside boundary regularly in the death overs.
Also Read: IPL 2018 Preview: Kings XI Punjab – The Spin is King
Prediction for IPL 11:
Although CSK has been a massive success so far in the IPL, they may have few problems this year with Dhoni and Raina’s performances spiraling down. A lot depends on how their spinners and all-rounders own the responsibility to take this team forward. With such tremendous history behind them, Chennai will surely be confident of another great year.
Expected End Position: 2nd or 3rd
Full Squad:
MS Dhoni (C), Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Billings, Faf du Plessis, Harbhajan Singh, Dwayne Bravo, Shane Watson, Kedar Jadhav, Ambati Rayudu, Imran Tahir, Shardul Thakur, Jagadeesan Narayan, Karn Sharma, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Asif K M, Lungisani Ngidi, Dhruv Shorey, Murali Vijay, Mark Wood, Kanishk Seth, Kshitiz Sharma, Monu Singh, Chaitanya Bishnoi
