The Epic Comeback of the Chennai Super Kings

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Introduction

The Chennai Super Kings are popularly known as CSK. CSK is a cricket team that plays in the Indian Premier League (IPL). As the team name suggests, it is based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Its home ground is undoubtedly in Chennai, M. A. Chidambaram Stadium.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led the team in eight finals, making him the most successful captain of IPL. CSK has the biggest winning percentage of 61.

Wins and Champions Trophies –

CSK, being the only IPL team to qualify for the playoff stage in each edition of their appearance in the league, has lifted the IPL title thrice (in 2010, 2011 and 2018).

In addition to that, they have also won the Champions League Twenty20 in 2010 and 2014. 

What Led to the Team Ban?

The team suffered a two-year suspension from the IPL from 14 July 2015 for the suspected involvement of their owners in the 2013 IPL betting case. The highlights of the case were -

• Vindu Dara Singh's call records with CSK team principal’s son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan was suspected to be related to the betting scandal.

• Mumbai Police investigated whether these calls were for betting.

• Subsequently, Gurunath Meiyappan was arrested on the same alleged charges of betting, conspiracy, spot-fixing and cheating.

• CSK immediately disowned him. The main reason for this immediate step was that his arrest could lead to the termination of the CSK franchise.

• This was because of the clause which states that any franchise which brings any harm to the reputation of BCCI and related parties will be terminated.

Were the Team Players Involved in This Scandal?

No, as the team captain, MS Dhoni had himself acknowledged later, that no team player was involved in this scandal. He also questioned that what did the players do to have gone through this dark phase. Not only that, but he also accepted that 2013 was the darkest phase of his cricket career.

The final match they played in IPL 2013 was against Mumbai Indians, their arch-rival. But, what came as an addition to CSK’s misery was that they lost the match. 

During the ban, Dhoni, being a part of CSK, became the central point of accusations and attention.

Due to this ban, the players had to move to different franchisees for two years. While Dhoni joined Pune Warriors, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, and DJ Bravo joined Gujrat Lions.

Chennai Super Kings’ Fairy-Tale Comeback -

The return of CSK to the IPL was a much-awaited moment for worldwide cricket fans. The tag line for CSK in 2018 was “Thirumbi vandhutenu sollu” which translates to - Tell them we are back.

It originated a large amount of celebration and fanfare amongst the fans, with a crowd of more than 10,000 showing up for the practice sessions.

Three of the five centuries scored in the 2018 IPL season were by CSK players.  Another reason why the IPL season in 2018 went super-hit was that, with the return of Chennai Super Kings, it had ignited its old popular, fan loving rivalry with the Mumbai Indians.

 The Daddies’ Army -

The team in 2018 was criticized and made fun of with the names like – ‘Daddies Army’ or ‘The Ageing team’ because of the fact that most of its players were not in their 20s. Guess who won the IPL 2018 title? The Daddies’ Army.

The roar of the Lion –

This is a documentary on Hotstar about the ban on the team, its mental effects, and its comeback. It starts with MS Dhoni saying “This time, it was for the fans”.

The documentary shows many CSK players telling their part of the story with the captain stating - “The biggest crime that I can commit (personally) is not a murder, it's actually match-fixing”.

In it, Ravindra Jadeja said that it was hard to believe on the news because just before they were celebrating their win over the Delhi Capitals.

This documentary led to the increase of the CSK fan-base by many folds. Watching each player express their sufferings, experiences, and growths which led them to win the IPL season 2018 title, was a very emotional moment for world-wide CSK fans.

Written by -  Ritika Singh

Edited by - Bushra Makhdoomi