# 2019 Chennai Super Kings season

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are a franchise cricket team based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, which plays in the Indian Premier League (IPL). They were one of the eight teams that competed in the 2019 Indian Premier League and where the defending champions. having won the 2018 Indian Premier League

## Background
### Player retention, transfers and auction

In November 2018, the Super Kings announced their list of retained players for the 2019 season. The list included Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Faf du Plessis, Murali Vijay, Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Billings, Mitchell Santner, David Willey, Dwayne Bravo, Shane Watson, Lungi Ngidi, Imran Tahir, Kedar Jadhav, Ambati Rayudu, Harbhajan Singh, Deepak Chahar, KM Asif, Karn Sharma, Dhruv Shorey, Narayan Jagadeesan, Shardul Thakur, Monu Kumar and Chaitanya Bishnoi.
On 18 December 2018, the IPL player auction was held in which the Super Kings signed two additional players, Mohit Sharma & Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shantanu Bhardwaj.

### Preseason

On 20 March 2019, the franchise announced that they would donate the proceeds from the tickets sales of their opening match of the season to the families of the CRPF personnel killed in the Pulwama attack.
A five part docu-drama on the Super Kings called Roar of the Lion was released on Hotstar on 20 March 2019.

### Team analysis

The Indian Express wrote in its team preview that the Super Kings were among the favorites to win this season. Two of three editors at the National predicted the Super Kings to retain the title in 2019. According to Firstpost, the Super Kings will "bank on its batting strength to win games, like the previous year." News18 listed the experienced players and spinners suited for the Super Kings as the team strengths, while saying "the pace department is something which will make CSK slightly vulnerable." Sportstar pointed out that the average age of the squad at the end of the auction was 33.5 and remarked that the team will "once again bank on the experience of its Indian and international stars to make an instant impact."

## Squad

* Players with international caps are listed in bold.
| No. | Name | Nationality | Birth date | Batting style | Bowling style | Year signed | Salary | Notes |
| Batsmen |||||||||
| 1 | Murali Vijay | India | (1984-04-01) 1 April 1984 (age 40) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | 2018 | ₹2 crore (US$234,000) | |
| 3 | Suresh Raina | India | (1986-11-27) 27 November 1986 (age 38) | Left-handed | Right-arm off break | 2018 | ₹11 crore (US$1.3 million) | Vice-captain |
| 9 | Ambati Rayudu | India | (1985-09-23) 23 September 1985 (age 39) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | 2018 | ₹2.2 crore (US$257,000) | |
| 13 | Faf du Plessis | South Africa | (1984-07-13) 13 July 1984 (age 40) | Right-handed | Right-arm leg break | 2018 | ₹1.6 crore (US$187,000) | Overseas |
| 66 | Dhruv Shorey | India | (1992-06-05) 5 June 1992 (age 32) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | 2018 | ₹20 lakh (US$23,000) | |
| 81 | Kedar Jadhav | India | (1985-03-26) 26 March 1985 (age 39) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | 2018 | ₹7.8 crore (US$912,844.60) | |
| — | Ruturaj Gaikwad | India | (1997-01-31) 31 January 1997 (age 27) | Right-handed | | 2019 | ₹20 lakh (US$23,000) | |
| All-rounders |||||||||
| 8 | Ravindra Jadeja | India | (1988-12-06) 6 December 1988 (age 36) | Left-handed | Slow left-arm orthodox | 2018 | ₹7 crore (US$819,000) | |
| 10 | Chaitanya Bishnoi | India | (1994-08-25) 25 August 1994 (age 30) | Left-handed | Slow left-arm orthodox | 2018 | ₹20 lakh (US$23,000) | |
| 33 | Shane Watson | Australia | (1981-06-17) 17 June 1981 (age 43) | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | 2018 | ₹4 crore (US$468,000) | Overseas |
| 36 | Karn Sharma | India | (1987-10-23) 23 October 1987 (age 37) | Left-handed | Right-arm leg break | 2018 | ₹5 crore (US$585,000) | |
| 47 | Dwayne Bravo | Trinidad and Tobago | (1983-10-07) 7 October 1983 (age 41) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium-fast | 2018 | ₹6.4 crore (US$749,000) | Overseas |
| 72 | David Willey | England | (1990-02-28) 28 February 1990 (age 34) | Left-handed | Left-arm fast | 2018 | ₹2 crore (US$234,000) | Overseas |
| 74 | Mitchell Santner | New Zealand | (1992-02-05) 5 February 1992 (age 32) | Left-handed | Slow left-arm orthodox | 2018 | ₹50 lakh (US$59,000) | Overseas |
| Wicket-keepers |||||||||
| 7 | MS Dhoni | India | (1981-07-07) 7 July 1981 (age 43) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | 2018 | ₹15 crore (US$1.8 million) | Captain |
| 77 | Sam Billings | England | (1991-06-15) 15 June 1991 (age 33) | Right-handed | | 2018 | ₹1 crore (US$117,000) | Overseas |
| — | Narayan Jagadeesan | India | (1994-04-24) 24 April 1994 (age 30) | Right-handed | | 2018 | ₹20 lakh (US$23,000) | |
| Bowlers |||||||||
| 18 | Mohit Sharma | India | (1988-09-18) 18 September 1988 (age 36) | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | 2019 | ₹5 crore (US$585,000) | |
| 22 | Lungi Ngidi | South Africa | (1996-03-29) 29 March 1996 (age 28) | Right-handed | Right-arm fast | 2018 | ₹50 lakh (US$59,000) | Overseas |
| 23 | Monu Kumar | India | (1994-11-05) 5 November 1994 (age 30) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | 2018 | ₹20 lakh (US$23,000) | |
| 24 | KM Asif | India | (1993-07-24) 24 July 1993 (age 31) | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | 2018 | ₹40 lakh (US$47,000) | |
| 27 | Harbhajan Singh | India | (1980-07-03) 3 July 1980 (age 44) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | 2018 | ₹2 crore (US$234,000) | |
| 30 | Scott Kuggeleijn | New Zealand | (1992-01-03) 3 January 1992 (age 32) | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | 2019 | | Overseas |
| 54 | Shardul Thakur | India | (1991-10-16) 16 October 1991 (age 33) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium-fast | 2018 | ₹2.6 crore (US$304,000) | |
| 90 | Deepak Chahar | India | (1992-08-07) 7 August 1992 (age 32) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium-fast | 2018 | ₹80 lakh (US$94,000) | |
| 99 | Imran Tahir | South Africa | (1979-03-27) 27 March 1979 (age 45) | Right-handed | Right-arm leg break | 2018 | ₹1 crore (US$117,000) | Overseas |

## Coaching and support staff

* Head coach – Stephen Fleming
* Batting coach – Michael Hussey
* Bowling coach – Lakshmipathy Balaji
* Bowling consultant – Eric Simons
* Physical trainer – Greg King
* Physio – Tommy Simsek
* Team manager – Russell Radhakrishnan
* Team doctor – Madhu
Source: Chennai Super Kings Couching and Supporting Staff List.

## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | NR | Pts | NRR | |
| 1 | Mumbai Indians (C) | 14 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 18 | 0.421 | Advanced to Qualifier 1 |
| 2 | Chennai Super Kings (R) | 14 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 18 | 0.131 | Advanced to Qualifier 1 |
| 3 | Delhi Capitals | 14 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 18 | 0.044 | Advanced to the Eliminator |
| 4 | Sunrisers Hyderabad | 14 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 12 | 0.577 | Advanced to the Eliminator |
| 5 | Kolkata Knight Riders | 14 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 12 | 0.028 | |
| 6 | Kings XI Punjab | 14 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 12 | −0.251 | |
| 7 | Rajasthan Royals | 14 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 11 | −0.449 | |
| 8 | Royal Challengers Bangalore | 14 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 11 | −0.607 | |

### Results
#### League stage

* 23 March 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard
| Royal Challengers Bangalore 70 (17.1 overs) | v | Chennai Super Kings (H) 71/3 (17.4 overs) |
| Parthiv Patel 29 (35) Imran Tahir 3/9 (4 overs) | | Ambati Rayudu 28 (42) Mohammed Siraj 1/5 (2 overs) |
* Chennai won by 7 wickets M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai Umpires: Anil Dandekar (Ind) and Bruce Oxenford (Aus) Player of the match: Harbhajan Singh (Chennai Super Kings)
* Chennai Super Kings won the toss and elected to field.
* Suresh Raina (Chennai Super Kings) became the first batsman to score 5,000 runs in the IPL.
* Royal Challengers Bangalore made the lowest total for any team in the IPL against the Chennai Super Kings.
* 29 March 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard
| Rajasthan Royals 198/2 (20 overs) | v | Sunrisers Hyderabad (H) 201/5 (19 overs) |
| Sanju Samson 102* (55) Rashid Khan 1/24 (4 overs) | | David Warner 69 (37) Shreyas Gopal 3/27 (4 overs) |
* Hyderabad won by 5 wickets Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad Umpires: Bruce Oxenford (Aus) and Chettithody Shamshuddin (Ind) Player of the match: Rashid Khan (Sunrisers Hyderabad)
* Rajasthan Royals won the toss and elected to bat.
* This was Sunrisers Hyderabad's highest successful run chase in the IPL.
* 31 March 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard
| (H) Chennai Super Kings 175/5 (20 overs) | v | Rajasthan Royals 167/8 (20 overs) |
| MS Dhoni 75* (46) Jofra Archer 2/17 (4 overs) | | Ben Stokes 46 (26) Deepak Chahar 2/19 (4 overs) |
* Chennai won by 8 runs M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai Umpires: Yeshwant Barde (Ind) and C. K. Nandan (Ind) Player of the match: MS Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings)
* Rajasthan Royals won the toss and elected to field.
* 3 April 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard
| (H) Mumbai Indians 170/5 (20 overs) | v | Chennai Super Kings 133/8 (20 overs) |
| Suryakumar Yadav 59 (43) Ravindra Jadeja 1/10 (2 overs) | | Kedar Jadhav 58 (54) Hardik Pandya 3/20 (4 overs) |
* Mumbai won by 37 runs Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai Umpires: Bruce Oxenford (Aus) and Rod Tucker (Aus) Player of the match: Hardik Pandya (Mumbai Indians)
* Chennai Super Kings won the toss and elected to field.
* Mumbai Indians became the first team in the IPL to win 100 matches.
* 6 April 2019 16:00 (D/N) Scorecard
| (H) Chennai Super Kings 160/3 (20 overs) | v | Kings XI Punjab 138/5 (20 overs) |
| Faf du Plessis 54 (38) Ravichandran Ashwin 3/23 (4 overs) | | Sarfaraz Khan 67 (59) Harbhajan Singh 2/17 (4 overs) |
* Chennai won by 22 runs M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai Umpires: K. N. Ananthapadmanabhan (Ind) and Rod Tucker (Aus) Player of the match: Harbhajan Singh (Chennai Super Kings)
* Chennai Super Kings won the toss and elected to bat.
* 9 April 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard
| Kolkata Knight Riders 108/9 (20 overs) | v | Chennai Super Kings (H) 111/3 (17.2 overs) |
| Andre Russell 50* (44) Deepak Chahar 3/20 (4 overs) | | Faf du Plessis 43* (45) Sunil Narine 2/24 (3.2 overs) |
* Chennai won by 7 wickets M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai Umpires: Chettithody Shamshuddin (Ind) and Rod Tucker (Aus) Player of the match: Deepak Chahar (Chennai Super Kings)
* Chennai Super Kings won the toss and elected to field.
* 11 April 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard
| (H) Rajasthan Royals 151/7 (20 overs) | v | Chennai Super Kings 155/6 (20 overs) |
| Ben Stokes 28 (26) Ravindra Jadeja 2/20 (4 overs) | | MS Dhoni 58 (43) Ben Stokes 2/39 (3 overs) |
* Chennai won by 4 wickets Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur Umpires: Ulhas Gandhe (Ind) and Bruce Oxenford (Aus) Player of the match: MS Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings)
* Chennai Super Kings won the toss and elected to field.
* 14 April 16:00 (D/N) Scorecard
| (H) Kolkata Knight Riders 161/8 (20 overs) | v | Chennai Super Kings 162/5 (19.4 overs) |
| Chris Lynn 82 (51) Imran Tahir 4/27 (4 overs) | | Suresh Raina 58* (42) Sunil Narine 2/19 (4 overs) |
* Chennai won by 5 wickets Eden Gardens, Kolkata Umpires: C. K. Nandan (Ind) and Rod Tucker (Aus) Player of the match: Imran Tahir (Chennai Super Kings)
* Chennai Super Kings won the toss and elected to field.
* 17 April 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard
| Chennai Super Kings 132/5 (20 overs) | v | Sunrisers Hyderabad (H) 137/4 (16.5 overs) |
| Faf du Plessis 45 (31) Rashid Khan 2/17 (4 overs) | | Jonny Bairstow 61* (44) Imran Tahir 2/20 (4 overs) |
* Hyderabad won by 6 wickets Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad Umpires: Ulhas Gandhe (Ind) and Ian Gould (Eng) Player of the match: David Warner (Sunrisers Hyderabad)
* Chennai Super Kings won the toss and elected to bat.
* 21 April 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard
| (H) Royal Challengers Bangalore 161/7 (20 overs) | v | Chennai Super Kings 160/8 (20 overs) |
| Parthiv Patel 53 (37) Deepak Chahar 2/25 (4 overs) | | MS Dhoni 84* (48) Dale Steyn 2/29 (4 overs) |
* Bangalore won by 1 run M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore Umpires: Vineet Kulkarni (Ind) and Rod Tucker (Aus) Player of the match: Parthiv Patel (Royal Challengers Bangalore)
* Chennai Super Kings won the toss and elected to field.
* 23 April 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard
| Sunrisers Hyderabad 175/3 (20 overs) | v | Chennai Super Kings (H) 176/4 (19.5 overs) |
| Manish Pandey 83* (49) Harbhajan Singh 2/39 (4 overs) | | Shane Watson 96 (53) Bhuvneshwar Kumar 1/18 (4 overs) |
* Chennai won by 6 wickets M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai Umpires: Anil Chaudhary (Ind) and Nigel Llong (Eng) Player of the match: Shane Watson (Chennai Super Kings)
* Chennai Super Kings won the toss and elected to field.
* 26 April 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard
| Mumbai Indians 155/4 (20 overs) | v | Chennai Super Kings (H) 109 (17.4 overs) |
| Rohit Sharma 67 (48) Mitchell Santner 2/13 (4 overs) | | Murali Vijay 38 (35) Lasith Malinga 4/37 (3.4 overs) |
* Mumbai won by 46 runs M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai Umpires: Anil Chaudhary (Ind) and Nigel Llong (Eng) Player of the match: Rohit Sharma (Mumbai Indians)
* Chennai Super Kings won the toss and elected to field.
* 1 May 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard
| (H) Chennai Super Kings 179/4 (20 overs) | v | Delhi Capitals 99 (16.2 overs) |
| Suresh Raina 59 (37) Jagadeesha Suchith 2/28 (4 overs) | | Shreyas Iyer 44 (31) Imran Tahir 4/12 (3.2 overs) |
* Chennai won by 80 runs M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai Umpires: Anil Dandekar (Ind) and Nitin Menon (Ind) Player of the match: MS Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings)
* Delhi Capitals won the toss and elected to field.
* 5 May 16:00 (D/N) Scorecard
| Chennai Super Kings 170/5 (20 overs) | v | Kings XI Punjab (H) 173/4 (18 overs) |
| Faf du Plessis 96 (55) Sam Curran 3/35 (4 overs) | | K. L. Rahul 71 (36) Harbhajan Singh 3/57 (4 overs) |
* Punjab won by 6 wickets Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali Umpires: K. N. Ananthapadmanabhan (Ind) and Chettithody Shamshuddin (Ind) Player of the match: K. L. Rahul (Kings XI Punjab)
* Kings XI Punjab won the toss and elected to field.
* Kings XI Punjab were eliminated and Chennai Super Kings advanced to Qualifier 1 as a result of this match.

#### Playoffs
##### Qualifier 1

* 7 May 19:30 (D/N) Scorecard
| Chennai Super Kings 131/4 (20 overs) | v | Mumbai Indians 132/4 (18.3 overs) |
| Ambati Rayudu 42* (37) Rahul Chahar 2/14 (4 overs) | | Suryakumar Yadav 71* (54) Imran Tahir 2/33 (4 overs) |
* Mumbai won by 6 wickets M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai Umpires: Nigel Llong (Eng) and Nitin Menon (Ind) Player of the match: Suryakumar Yadav (Mumbai Indians)
* Chennai Super Kings won the toss and elected to bat.

##### Qualifier 2

* 10 May 19:30 (D/N) Scorecard
| Delhi Capitals 147/9 (20 overs) | v | Chennai Super Kings 151/4 (19 overs) |
| Rishabh Pant 38 (25) Dwayne Bravo 2/19 (4 overs) | | Shane Watson 50 (32) Trent Boult 1/20 (4 overs) |
* Chennai won by 6 wickets Dr. Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA–VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam Umpires: Bruce Oxenford (Aus) and Sundaram Ravi (Ind) Player of the match: Faf du Plessis (Chennai Super Kings)
* Chennai Super Kings won the toss and elected to field.

#### Final

* 12 May 19:30 (D/N) Scorecard
| Mumbai Indians 149/8 (20 overs) | v | Chennai Super Kings 148/7 (20 overs) |
| Kieron Pollard 41* (25) Deepak Chahar 3/26 (4 overs) | | Shane Watson 80 (59) Jasprit Bumrah 2/14 (4 overs) |
* Mumbai won by 1 run Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad Umpires: Ian Gould (Eng) and Nitin Menon (Ind) Player of the match: Jasprit Bumrah (Mumbai Indians)
* Mumbai Indians won the toss and elected to bat.

## Statistics
### Most runs

| No. | Name | Matches | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Ave. | BF | SR | 100s | 50s | 0 | 4s | 6s |
| 1 | MS Dhoni | 15 | 12 | 7 | 416 | 84* | 83.20 | 309 | 134.62 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 22 | 23 |
| 2 | Shane Watson | 17 | 17 | 0 | 398 | 96 | 23.41 | 312 | 127.56 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 42 | 20 |
| 3 | Faf du Plessis | 12 | 12 | 1 | 396 | 96 | 36.00 | 321 | 123.36 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 36 | 15 |
| 4 | Suresh Raina | 17 | 17 | 1 | 383 | 59 | 23.93 | 314 | 121.97 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 45 | 9 |
| 5 | Ambati Rayudu | 17 | 17 | 5 | 282 | 57 | 23.50 | 303 | 93.06 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 20 | 7 |
* Source:Cricinfo

### Most wickets

| No. | Name | Matches | Inns | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets | BBI | Ave. | Econ. | SR | 4W | 5W |
| 1 | Imran Tahir | 17 | 17 | 64.2 | 1 | 431 | 26 | 4/12 | 16.57 | 6.69 | 14.8 | 2 | 0 |
| 2 | Deepak Chahar | 17 | 17 | 64.3 | 2 | 482 | 22 | 3/20 | 21.90 | 7.47 | 17.5 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Harbhajan Singh | 11 | 11 | 44.0 | 1 | 312 | 16 | 3/20 | 19.50 | 7.05 | 16.5 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Ravindra Jadeja | 16 | 16 | 54.0 | 1 | 308 | 15 | 3/9 | 22.86 | 6.35 | 21.6 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Dwayne Bravo | 12 | 12 | 41.1 | 0 | 330 | 11 | 3/33 | 30.00 | 8.01 | 22.4 | 0 | 0 |
* Imran Tahir won the Purple Cap as the bowler who took the most wickets in the competition
* Source:Cricinfo

## Awards and achievements
### Awards
#### Man of the Match

| No. | Date | Player | Opponent | Result | Contribution |
| 1 | March 23, 2019 | Harbhajan Singh | Royal Challengers Bangalore | Won By 7 wickets | 3/20 (4 overs) |
| 2 | March 26, 2019 | Shane Watson | Delhi Capitals | Won By 6 wickets | 44 runs off 26 balls |
| 3 | March 31, 2019 | MS Dhoni | Rajasthan Royals | Won By 8 runs | 75* runs in 46 balls |
| 4 | April 6, 2019 | Harbhajan Singh | Kings XI Punjab | Won By 22 runs | 2/17 (4 overs) |
| 5 | April 9, 2019 | Deepak Chahar | Kolkata Knight Riders | Won By 7 Wickets | 3/20 (4 overs) |
| 6 | April 11, 2019 | MS Dhoni | Rajasthan Royals | Won By 4 Wickets | 58 runs in 43 balls |
| 7 | April 14, 2019 | Imran Tahir | Kolkata Knight Riders | Won By 5 Wickets | 4/27 (4 overs) |
| 8 | April 23, 2019 | Shane Watson | Sunrisers Hyderabad | Won By 6 Wickets | 96 runs in 53 balls |
| 9 | May 1, 2019 | MS Dhoni | Delhi Capitals | Won By 80 runs | 44 runs in 22 balls |
| 10 | May 10, 2019 | Faf du Plessis | Delhi Capitals | Won By 6 Wickets | 50 runs in 39 balls |