# 2015 Chennai Super Kings season

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) is a franchise cricket team based in Chennai, India, which plays in the Indian Premier League (IPL). They were one of the eight teams that competed in the 2015 Indian Premier League. They were captained for the eighth season in succession by Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
The Super Kings reached the final of the 2015 IPL where they lost to Mumbai Indians.

## IPL auction 2015

Chennai Super Kings bought the following players in the 2015 auction:
* Michael Hussey
* Irfan Pathan
* Rahul Sharma
* Kyle Abbott
* Andrew Tye
* Pratyush Singh
* Ankush Bains
* Eklavya Dwivedi

## Squad

* Players with international caps before the 2015 IPL season are listed in bold.
| No. | Name | Nationality | Birth date | Batting style | Bowling style | Signed year | Salary | Notes |
| Batsmen |||||||||
| 3 | Suresh Raina | India | (1986-11-27)27 November 1986 (aged 28) | Left-handed | Right-arm off break | 2014 | ₹95 million (US$1.1 million) | Vice-captain |
| 12 | Mithun Manhas | India | (1979-10-12)12 October 1979 (aged 35) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | 2014 | ₹1 million (US$12,000) | |
| 13 | Faf du Plessis | South Africa | (1984-07-13)13 July 1984 (aged 30) | Right-handed | Right-arm leg break | 2014 | ₹47.5 million (US$570,000) | Overseas |
| 42 | Brendon McCullum | New Zealand | (1981-09-27)27 September 1981 (aged 33) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | 2014 | ₹32.5 million (US$390,000) | Overseas |
| 48 | Michael Hussey | Australia | (1975-05-27)27 May 1975 (aged 39) | Left-handed | Right-arm medium | 2015 | ₹15 million (US$180,000) | Overseas |
| All-rounders |||||||||
| 5 | Baba Aparajith | India | (1994-07-08)8 July 1994 (aged 20) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | 2014 | ₹3 million (US$36,000) | |
| 8 | Ravindra Jadeja | India | (1988-12-06)6 December 1988 (aged 26) | Left-handed | Slow left-arm orthodox | 2014 | ₹75 million (US$900,000) | |
| 47 | Dwayne Bravo | Trinidad and Tobago | (1983-10-07)7 October 1983 (aged 31) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium-fast | 2014 | ₹40 million (US$480,000) | Overseas |
| 50 | Dwayne Smith | Barbados | (1983-04-12)12 April 1983 (aged 32) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium-fast | 2014 | ₹45 million (US$540,000) | Overseas |
| 56 | Irfan Pathan | India | (1984-10-27)27 October 1984 (aged 30) | Left-handed | Left-arm medium-fast | 2015 | ₹15 million (US$180,000) | |
| 68 | Andrew Tye | Australia | (1986-12-12)12 December 1986 (aged 28) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium-fast | 2015 | ₹2 million (US$24,000) | Overseas |
| Wicket-keepers |||||||||
| 1 | Eklavya Dwivedi | India | (1988-07-22)22 July 1988 (aged 26) | Right-handed | | 2015 | ₹1 million (US$12,000) | |
| 7 | Mahendra Singh Dhoni | India | (1981-07-07)7 July 1981 (aged 33) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | 2014 | ₹125 million (US$1.5 million) | Captain |
| 9 | Ankush Bains | India | (1995-12-06)6 December 1995 (aged 19) | Right-handed | | 2015 | ₹1 million (US$12,000) | |
| Bowlers |||||||||
| 6 | Pawan Negi | India | (1993-01-06)6 January 1993 (aged 22) | Left-handed | Slow left-arm orthodox | 2014 | ₹1 million (US$12,000) | |
| 15 | Ishwar Pandey | India | (1989-08-15)15 August 1989 (aged 25) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium-fast | 2014 | ₹15 million (US$180,000) | |
| 18 | Mohit Sharma | India | (1988-09-18)18 September 1988 (aged 26) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium-fast | 2014 | ₹30 million (US$360,000) | |
| 19 | Pratyush Singh | India | (1994-09-04)4 September 1994 (aged 20) | Right-handed | Right-arm leg break googly | 2015 | ₹1 million (US$12,000) | |
| 21 | Matt Henry | New Zealand | (1991-12-14)14 December 1991 (aged 23) | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | 2014 | ₹3 million (US$36,000) | Overseas |
| 22 | Ronit More | India | (1992-02-11)11 February 1992 (aged 23) | Right-handed | Right arm medium-fast | 2014 | ₹1 million (US$12,000) | |
| 27 | Rahul Sharma | India | (1986-09-30)30 September 1986 (aged 28) | Right-handed | Right-arm leg break googly | 2015 | ₹3 million (US$36,000) | |
| 64 | Ashish Nehra | India | (1979-04-30)30 April 1979 (aged 35) | Right-handed | Left-arm medium-fast | 2014 | ₹20 million (US$240,000) | |
| 77 | Samuel Badree | Trinidad and Tobago | (1981-03-09)9 March 1981 (aged 34) | Right-handed | Right-arm leg break | 2014 | ₹3 million (US$36,000) | Overseas |
| 87 | Kyle Abbott | South Africa | (1987-06-18)18 June 1987 (aged 27) | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | 2015 | ₹3 million (US$36,000) | Overseas |
| 99 | Ravichandran Ashwin | India | (1986-09-17)17 September 1986 (aged 28) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | 2014 | ₹55 million (US$660,000) | |

## IPL
### Standings

Chennai Super Kings finished first in the league stage of IPL 2015.
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | NR | Pts | NRR |
| 1 | Chennai Super Kings (R) | 14 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 18 | 0.709 |
| 2 | Mumbai Indians (C) | 14 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 16 | −0.043 |
| 3 | Royal Challengers Bangalore (3) | 14 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 16 | 1.037 |
| 4 | Rajasthan Royals (4) | 14 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 16 | 0.062 |
| 5 | Kolkata Knight Riders | 14 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 15 | 0.253 |
| 6 | Sunrisers Hyderabad | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 | −0.239 |
| 7 | Delhi Daredevils | 14 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 11 | −0.049 |
| 8 | Kings XI Punjab | 14 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 6 | −1.436 |
* Top 4 teams were qualified for the playoffs
* advanced to the Qualifier
* advanced to the Eliminator
("C" refers to the "Champions" of the Tournament. 'R'(2nd Position), '3' and '4' are the positions of the respective teams in the tournament.)

### Results
#### Playoffs

| Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Preliminary final | Preliminary final | Preliminary final | Final | Final | Final |
| 19 May — Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai | 19 May — Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai | 19 May — Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai | | | | 24 May — Eden Gardens, Kolkata | 24 May — Eden Gardens, Kolkata | 24 May — Eden Gardens, Kolkata |
| 1 | Chennai Super Kings | 162 (19 ov) | | | | 2 | Mumbai Indians | 202/5 (20 ov) |
| 2 | Mumbai Indians (H) | 187/6 (20 ov) | 22 May — JSCA International Cricket Stadium, Ranchi | 22 May — JSCA International Cricket Stadium, Ranchi | 22 May — JSCA International Cricket Stadium, Ranchi | 1 | Chennai Super Kings | 161/8 (20 ov) |
| | | | 1 | Chennai Super Kings | 140/7 (19.5 ov) | | | |
| 20 May — MCA Stadium, Pune | 20 May — MCA Stadium, Pune | 20 May — MCA Stadium, Pune | 3 | Royal Challengers Bangalore | 139/8 (20 ov) | | | |
| 3 | Royal Challengers Bangalore | 180/4 (20 ov) | | | | | | |
| 4 | Rajasthan Royals | 109 (19 ov) | | | | | | |

##### Qualifier 1

* 19 May 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard
| (H) Mumbai Indians 187/6 (20 overs) | v | Chennai Super Kings 162 (19 overs) |
| Lendl Simmons 65 (51) Dwayne Bravo 3/40 (4 overs) | | Faf du Plessis 45 (34) Lasith Malinga 3/23 (4 overs) |
* Mumbai Indians won by 25 runs Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai Umpires: Kumar Dharmasena (SL) and Richard Illingworth (Eng) Player of the match: Kieron Pollard (MI)
* Mumbai Indians won the toss and elected to bat

##### Qualifier 2

* 22 May 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard
| Royal Challengers Bangalore 139/8 (20 overs) | v | Chennai Super Kings 140/7 (19.5 overs) |
| Chris Gayle 41 (43) Ashish Nehra 3/28 (4 overs) | | Michael Hussey 56 (46) Yuzvendra Chahal 2/28 (4 overs) |
* Chennai Super Kings won by 3 wickets JSCA International Cricket Stadium, Ranchi Umpires: Anil Chaudhary (Ind) and Chris Gaffaney (NZ) Player of the match: Ashish Nehra (CSK)
* Chennai Super Kings won the toss and elected to field

#### Final

* 24 May 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard
| Mumbai Indians 202/5 (20 overs) | v | Chennai Super Kings 161/8 (20 overs) |
| Lendl Simmons 68 (45) Dwayne Bravo 2/36 (4 overs) | | Dwayne Smith 57 (48) Mitchell McClenaghan 3/25 (4 overs) |
* Mumbai Indians won by 41 runs Eden Gardens, Kolkata Umpires: Kumar Dharmasena (SL) and Richard Illingworth (Eng) Player of the match: Rohit Sharma (MI)
* Chennai Super Kings won the toss and elected to field

## Statistics
### Most runs

| Player | Mat | Inns | Runs | Ave | SR | HS | 100 | 50 | 4s | 6s |
| Brendon McCullum | 14 | 14 | 436 | 33.53 | 155.71 | 100 | 1 | 2 | 51 | 23 |
| Dwayne Smith | 16 | 16 | 399 | 24.93 | 119.10 | 62 | 0 | 2 | 52 | 16 |
| Faf du Plessis | 17 | 15 | 280 | 29.23 | 125.00 | 55 | 0 | 1 | 37 | 5 |
* Source: ESPNcricinfo

### Most wickets

| Player | Mat | Inns | Wkts | Ave | Econ | BBI | SR | 4WI | 5WI |
| Dwayne Bravo | 17 | 16 | 26 | 16.38 | 8.14 | 3/22 | 12.00 | 0 | 0 |
| Ashish Nehra | 16 | 16 | 22 | 20.40 | 7.24 | 4/10 | 16.90 | 1 | 0 |
| Mohit Sharma | 16 | 16 | 14 | 34.35 | 8.43 | 3/25 | 24.40 | 0 | 0 |
* Bravo won the Purple Cap award as the player who took the most wickets in the tournament
* Source: ESPNcricinfo