IPL 2024 Factbox: Everything you need to know about Chennai Super Kings

IPL titles: 5

Defending champions Chennai Super Kings are the joint-most successful team in the history of the Indian Premier League, having won a total of five titles till date — the same as arch-rivals Mumbai Indians. What gives the ‘Yellow Army’ the edge over MI, however, is their remarkable consistency when it comes to making the finals; they’ve reached the summit clash of the world’s biggest T20 league a staggering 10 times, finishing runners-up as many times as they’ve been crowned champions.

Additionally, the 2020 season was the first time since the inaugural edition in 2008 that they had failed to reach the playoffs, the ignominy that they would end up suffering again two years later.

Here’s how they have fared year on year.

How did they fare in the previous season:

Win percentage:

It was quite the fairytale run for CSK in IPL 2023, which was widely believed to be Dhoni’s last in the yellow jersey though ‘Captain Cool’ himself had refrained from making any such statement throughout the course of the 16th season. Chennai began the season with a hiccup, suffering a five-wicket defeat against reigning champions Gujarat Titans in the season-opener in Ahmedabad, but would bounce right back by winning five out of their next six outings that took them to the top half of the table.

CSK would then ensure they would not slip out of the playoff spots in the remainder of the group stage and eventually finished second with 17 points. And Dhoni and Co would eventually be crowned champions after back-to-back wins against GT in Qualifier 1 and the Final respectively, the latter having to be shifted to a ‘Reserve Day’ due to rain interruption in Ahmedabad.

Highest run-getter: Suresh Raina (4687 runs)

Highest wicket-taker: Dwayne Bravo (140)

Highest individual score: Murali Vijay 127 vs Rajasthan Royals in Chennai in 2010

Highest team score: 246/5 vs RR in Chennai: That 246/5 against Rajasthan remains their highest score in the league so far.

Bonus point: CSK have also defended the lowest score in the league, defending 116 against Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) in 2009 in Durban. The spinners choked the KXIP batsmen as they restricted Punjab to 92/8.

Favourite opponent: Sunrisers Hyderabad

CSK have had the most success against Sunrisers Hyderabad, with a win percentage of 73.68 percent. (For teams against whom CSK have played 10 or more matches). They have won 14 of their 19 matches played with just five losses.

Bogey team: Mumbai Indians

CSK have struggled against MI, with a loss percentage of 44.44. They have lost 20 of their 36 matches and won 16. Mumbai is the only side against whom they have lost more than they have won (minimum 10 matches played).

Lesser known facts:

- CSK have had 10 final appearances in the league, most by any team. They went on to win five of them, including last year’s summit clash against Gujarat Titans

- They are one of seven teams to have won 100-plus IPL matches. The others are Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders, Delhi Capitals, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Punjab Kings and Rajasthan Royals.

- Suresh Raina leads the charts with most catches taken in IPL. He took 109 catches from 205 matches, 98 of them came while playing for CSK from 176 matches.

- Suresh Raina has scored 1,498 runs from 55 innings at MA Chidambaram Stadium for CSL in IPL at an average of 29.96 - the most by any CSK batsman at any venue in IPL.

Purchases, retentions and squad

Players retained ahead of IPL Auction: Ajay Mandal, Ajinkya Rahane, Deepak Chahar, Devon Conway, Maheesh Theekshana, Matheesha Pathirana, Mitchell Santner, Moeen Ali, MS Dhoni, Mukesh Choudhary, Nishant Sindhu, Prashant Solanki, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Ravindra Jadeja, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shaik Rasheed, Shivam Dube, Simarjeet Singh, Tushar Deshpande

Players purchased: Rachin Ravindra (Rs 1.80 crore), Shardul Thakur (Rs 4 crore), Daryl Mitchell (Rs 14 crore), Sameer Rizvi (Rs 8.40 crore), Mustafizur Rahman (Rs 2 crore), Aravelly Avanish (Rs 20 lakh)

Players released: Ben Stokes, Dwaine Pretorius, K. Bhagath Varma, Subhranshu Senapati, Ambati Rayudu, Kyle Jamieson, Akash Singh, Sisanda Magala

Full squad: MS Dhoni (c), Ajay Mandal, Ajinkya Rahane, Deepak Chahar, Devon Conway, Maheesh Theekshana, Matheesha Pathirana, Mitchell Santner, Moeen Ali, Mukesh Choudhary, Nishant Sindhu, Prashant Solanki, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Ravindra Jadeja, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shaik Rasheed, Shivam Dube, Simarjeet Singh, Tushar Deshpande, Rachin Ravindra, Shardul Thakur, Daryl Mitchell, Sameer Rizvi, Mustafizur Rahman, Aravelly Avanish.