Chennai Super Kings

Chennai Super Kings is a franchise cricket team based in Chennai who play in the Indian Premier League. The team is led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni and coached by Stephen Fleming. The M. A. Chidambaram Stadium (often referred to as Chepauk) is the Super Kings' home ground.They are the current holders of the IPL trophy having won the 2010 Indian Premier League.They were the runners-up of the inaugaral season and the semi-finalists of the second edition. They also have been the only side to make it to the semi-finals in all the three tournaments.The Chennai Super Kings have been in the Champions League twice, the first one being 2008 edition that was cancelled and are yet to take part in the 2010 Season.

Etymology

The name Chennai Super Kings draws on the history of rulers emerging from this region. It should also be noted that the ICL named their Chennai franchise Chennai Superstars a year prior to the formation of the Super Kings.

The Logo and The Anthem

The addition of the word "Super" gives the name a young and contemporary feel, which is in keeping with the game format. The Twenty20 as a cricketing format is all about enhanced drama and speed.The Anthem is "Namma Chennai Super-- kings".

Franchise history

The Chennai Super Kings are a part of the Indian Premier League, made up of 10 teams. The franchise is currently owned by India Cements, who paid US $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 defacto owner of the Chennai Super Kings, by means of his position within the company. He is also the Secretary of the BCCI.

Krishnamachari Srikkanth, former captain of the Indian Cricket Team, is the brand ambassador for the franchise at present, and former Indian opener V. B. Chandrasekhar is the Chief Selector. To gather more support from local fans, actor Joseph Vijay and actress Nayantara were also appointed as ambassadors. Nayanthara was later removed because she could not attend matches. Vijay served as the brand Ambassador till the end of 2009 season and has since then given up his position due to his other commitments.

2008 season

During the first player auctions for the inaugural IPL season, conducted in January 2008, the Chennai team was able to outbid its competitors to buy current Indian team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni for $1,5 million, winning the highest bid.

The Super Kings had a solid start to their 2008 IPL Season, winning their first 4 matches. However, their top order and bowling attack took a hit after Matthew Hayden, Mike Hussey and Jacob Oram left the team for international duty. The team's performance reflected this, as they proceeded to lose their next 3 matches. The batting, although inconsistent, eventually adjusted to the losses of Hayden and Hussey with contributions from Dhoni, Suresh Raina and Albie Morkel. The gap in the team's bowling left by Oram's departure was eventually filled by the arrival of Makhaya Ntini and Albie Morkel (both of whom were playing the Pro20 domestic tournament in South Africa during the start of the tournament) and the emergence of Manpreet Gony. A win in the final league match against the Deccan Chargers ensured their progress into the semi-finals, finishing the group stage at third rank.

The team defeated the Kings XI Punjab in the semifinal by 9 wickets, thus entering the final, which they lost to Rajasthan Royals by three wickets off the last ball. The Super Kings were the team to post the highest total in the tournament (240 against Kings XI Punjab), which was only broken in the 2010 season by the Super Kings themselves. Moreover, Lakshmipathy Balaji took the first hat-trick of the IPL in the second match against the Punjab team. The team also won the Fly Kingfisher Fair Play Awards. Suresh Raina scored the most runs (421) for Chennai, while Manpreet Gony took most wickets (17).

2009 season

Apart from Andrew Flintoff, Thilan Thushara from Sri Lanka, George Bailey from Tasmania, Australia and Murali Vijay, the Tamil Nadu batsman who played for India in two test matches, and Sudeep Tyagi, who had missed the 2008 season due to injury, returned for the second season, which has held in South Africa. In addition, Shadab Jakati of Goa was also added to the team, a left field selection by V. B. Chandrasekhar, the team's Director of Cricketing Operations. Five players, Srikanth Anirudha, Sivaramakrishnan Vidyut, Selvam Suresh Kumar, Abhinav Mukund and Napoleon Einstein were sent back from South Africa to trim the squad. Michael Hussey opted out of the 2009 season, however, he decided to come back for the semi-finals but was not picked to play though. Andrew Flintoff picked up a knee injury and was withdrawn from the tournament and returned to England early in the tournament.

The Super Kings played the first match of the tournament, which they lost to the Mumbai Indians by 19 runs. They won the second match against the Royal Challengers Bangalore by 92 runs, beforing losing their next two matches. However, things took a turn with a five-game winning streak for the Super Kings, eventually even taking the top spot. They entered the semifinals after their win against Mumbai Indians by 7 wickets, finishing the group stage at second, where they were eliminated by the Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Mathew Hayden was the Orange cap winner, being the leading run scorer in IPL 2009, scoring 572 runs in 12 matches with an average of 52 and strike rate of 144.81. Meanwhile, Muttiah Muralitharan had the best economy rate of the tournament (5.22) and was also Chennai's highest wicket taker (14).

2010 season

The Super Kings added three new overseas players to their roster: Justin Kemp, Thissara Perera and Doug Bollinger. One of these two will fill in the empty slot while the other shall serve as a substitute to Andrew Flintoff, who has planned to skip this season. The Super Kings also roped in former ICL cricketer Hemang Badani and local all-rounder Ganapathy.

The Super Kings started their tournament against the defending champions, Deccan Chargers, in a home match. They lost the match by 31 runs. The Super Kings a roller-coaster ride throughout the tournament. They did not play their best in the first half of the tournament due to which they lost the majority of the matches they played. But the Super Kings made an admirable comeback by winning 5 of the matches played in the latter half of the season. This boosted their Net Run Rate, which ultimately proved to be the factor leading to their qualification for the semi-finals as three other teams were also tied on points. The Super Kings defeated the defending champions Deccan Chargers to qualify for the IPL final. The win also assured them a place in the Champions League Twenty20.

The final match of IPL 2010 (Chennai Super Kings vs. Mumbai Indians) was played on 25 April 2010 on the DY Patil Stadium. M S Dhoni(Captain - CSK) won the toss and elected to bat. Chennai Super Kings scored 168 for 5 at the end of 20 Overs. Mumbai Indians scored 146 for 9 at the end of 20 overs and hence lost the match by 22 runs. Man of the match: Suresh Raina(Chennai Super Kings). Finally the Chennai Super Kings were crowned the winners of the Indian Premier League. This is also the first time an Indian captain won this tournament. The first IPL season was won by Rajasthan Royals captained by Shane Warne, and the second IPL Season was won by the Deccan Chargers captained by Adam Gilchrist.

Cricket academy in Chennai

Matthew Hayden has planned to set up a youth academy in Chennai and wants to take the help of Rahul Dravid and his Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming in the venture.

Hayden said he had decided to give back to the city where he had practised playing on turning tracks ten years ago on Australia's 2000-01 tour to India. "About a decade back, when I came here to practise on turning tracks, I told myself standing in an empty Chepauk stadium that I would score a century for Australia one day," Hayden told the Times of India. "I did that, and now this is a way of giving something back to the city from where I have got so much."

Financial worth

The Economic Times commissioned UK-based Brand Finance to carry out brand evaluation of the IPL and also each of the eight franchise teams (that will increase to 10 in 2011).

Chennai Super Kings, has been rated as this year’s “most valuable team” in Indian Premier League cricket with a brand value of USD 48.4 Million (app Rs 224 Crores).which is 2.4 million more than Kolkata Knight Riders whose brand value stood at 46 Million.

New stadium

A new stadium will come up at a Chennai suburb in addition to the famous Chepauk Ground located in the heart of the city. The new stadium, located at Karunkuzhipallam, about 25 km from Chennai, on a 50-acre plot on the IT corridor, is being built as the present lease of the Chepauk stadium expires in 2015. The new stadium is expected to cost over Rs 100 crore. The TNCA would get 50 per cent subsidy from the Board of Control for Cricket in India. which may then be the home ground for Chennai Super Kings

Trivia

2008 Indian Premier League

Runners-Up Of The Tournament

Fair Play Awards Winner

Most Expensive Player Of The Tournament(Ms Dhoni)

2nd Tournament Centurion(Michael Hussey)

1st Tournament hat-trick(Lakshmipaty Balaji)

3rd Tournament hat-trick(Makhaya Ntini)

2009 Indian Premier League

Semi-finalists Of The Tournament

Most Expensive Player Of The Tournament(Andrew Flintoff)

Orange Cap Player Of The Tournament(Matthew Hayden)

2010 Indian Premier League

CHAMPIONS Of The Tournament

Fair Play Awards Winner

3rd Tournament Centurion(Murali Vijay)

IPL AWARDS:Best Fielder(Suresh Raina)

IPL AWARDS:Most Economical Bowler(Ravichndran Ashwin)