Chennai Super Kings Team Preview - Records, Journey, IPL 2021 Squad & Schedule

Three times IPL Champions, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) is one of the most popular teams of the tournament. Led by the most successful Indian captain MS Dhoni, CSK has reached the playoffs in al

By Rishabh Gautam
Mar 31, 2021 • 08:39 AM

Chennai Super Kings IPL 2021 Team Preview (Image Source: Google)

Three times IPL Champions, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) is one of the most popular teams of the tournament. Led by the most successful Indian captain MS Dhoni, CSK has reached the playoffs in all the IPL seasons, except the 2016 & 2017 seasons due to suspension & IPL 2020 - their most forgetful season.

Even though many fans believe that the Super Kings don’t have a perfectly balanced squad to lift the trophy, they are still the favorites to win IPL 2021 owing to two factors – the captaincy of MS Dhoni & the experience of the whole squad.

Chennai Super Kings Squad for IPL 2021

Batsmen: Faf du Plessis, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rituraj Gaikwad, Chezhian Harinishanth.
All-Rounders: Dwayne Bravo, Moeen Ali, Krishnappa Gowtham, Ravindra Jadeja, Mitchell Santner, Sam Curran, Bhagath Varma.
Wicketkeepers: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Captain), Robin Uthappa, Narayan Jagadeesan
Bowlers: Josh Hazlewood, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, KM Asif, Lungi Ngidi, Harishankar Reddy, Imran Tahir, Karn Sharma, R Sai Kishore.

IPL Records

CSK holds the record for defending the lowest score in the IPL history. They defended 117 runs against Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) in the second season of the Indian Premier League.
Veteran T20 Player, Suresh Raina, is the most successful batsman in the CSK Squad. Raina has 5,368 runs to his name in 193 Matches, with a strike rate of 137.14, while averaging 33.34.
In bowling, West Indian T20 legend Dwayne Bravo is their highest wicket-taker, with 153 wickets in 140 matches.

IPL Journey

2008: Won 9 matches and lost 7 matches, ended up as runners up after getting defeated by Rajasthan Royals in the final.
2009: Won 8 matches and lost 6 matches, finished 4th in the league stage before crashing out in the semi-finals.
2010: Reached the finals, and won their maiden IPL title. They won 9 and lost 7 matches in the process, finishing first in the league standings.
2011: Won the title again. In this season, they won 11 matches and lost just 5 matches, dominating the tournament throughout to claim their second title.
2012: Reached the finals yet again but were defeated by Kolkata Knight Riders in the finals. CSK won 10 and lost 8 matches in this tournament, ending up as runners-up.
2013: Just like the previous season, CSK was the runner up yet again after getting defeated by their arch-rivals Mumbai Indians in the finals. CSK won 12 and lost 6 matches in this season to claim the 2nd position.
2014: After playing the IPL finals four consecutive times, this time CSK was eliminated in the playoffs. They won 10 matches and lost 6, ended up on the 3rd spot in the IPL league standings.
2015: CSK reached the finals yet again. They won 10 & lost 7 matches in the process, and ended up as runners-up after getting defeated by Mumbai Indians in the finals.
2016: Suspended
2017: Suspended
2018: Making their return after 2 years, CSK won the IPL 2018. They won 11 matches and lost 5 matches.
2019: Reached the finals as usual, and got defeated by Mumbai Indians, ended up on 2nd spot. CSK won 10 matches and lost 7 in this season.
2020: CSK’s worst season, won just 6 and lost 8 matches. Finished 7th in the league standings.

Overall Record Of Chennai Super Kings in IPL

Matches Played: 179
Wins: 106
Losses: 72
No Result: 1
Win Rate: 59.83%

Chennai Super Kings’ strength this season would be the all-rounders and experienced players they possess in the squad. MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, Ambati Rayudu & Robin Uthappa have been a part of IPL for a long time now. Moeen Ali, Ravindra Jadeja, DJ Bravo, Sam Curran, Mitchell Santner, K Gowtham & Shardul Thakur are the impactful all-rounders in the squad who can turn the match in favor of their team on their better days.

CSK's weakness is the age of the players in the team. Most of the senior players don’t play international cricket regularly and this can cause them to not attain their form at the right time. MS Dhoni didn’t have a good season with the bat in Dubai last year, while Ambati Rayudu and Robin Uthappa have been away from international cricket. Meanwhile, Ravindra Jadeja is still to come out of the injury he sustained in Australia which caused him to miss the England series as well.

There’s an opportunity for Indian Batsmen to rise, as Faf du Plessis is the only specialist foreign batsman in the squad. Cheteshwar Pujara, Robin Uthappa, and Ambati Rayudu have a chance to revive their international limited-overs career. Uncapped players, Rituraj Gaikwad and N

Jagadeesan can catch the eyes of the national selectors if they perform well for the Super Kings this season.

The worrying point for CSK could also be playing Moeen Ali in the playing XI. Sam Curran and du Plessis are expected to play all the matches for CSK, while Josh Hazelwood, Imran Tahir, and Lungi Ngidi would be fighting for spots in the team. DJ Bravo would be contending with Mitchell Santner for the all-rounder spot. This attains the maximum no. of foreign players allowed in the XI (four foreign players). Benching Moeen Ali after buying him for 7 crores would be unreasonable as well.

Schedule Of Chennai Super Kings In IPL 2021