What makes the Chennai Super Kings such a successful team?

7 seasons, twice champions, 3-time runners-up and at least semi-finalists every single time. With 74 wins from 121 matches till now and a winning percentage of 62.08, Chennai Super Kings are the most successful IPL team by some distance. The second best in the list is Mumbai Indians, winning 55.55% of their 117 matches so far (almost 6.5 percentage point behind); and then there’s a string of teams close to each other in the range of 50-55% winning percentage – Rajasthan Royals at 54.50%, Kolkata Knight Riders at 52.29% and Kings XI Punjab at 50.89%.

What then makes CSK the most successful team?

Consistency in the squad

While there’s no single answer to this question, probably the most important factor behind their success is the consistency in the look of the team. When the IPL started back in 2008, the teams were to play the same squads with a few additions for 3 years i.e till 2010. CSK had done really well in those 3 seasons, even winning the 2010 edition. When fresh auctions were held for the 2011 season where every team could retain a maximum of 4 players, CSK retained its core group of players – MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Murali Vijay and Albie Morkel.

By 2010, Ashwin, and Badrinath had become key players for them and they somehow managed to buy them back at the auctions too. Similarly, after 6 seasons, when another round of fresh auctions were held, CSK retained 5 of its core players – MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Dwayne Bravo, and in the auctions, they managed to get Mike Hussey, Faf duPlessis – that’s 7 out of 11 players! To be able to maintain such consistency in their team is phenomenal.

CSK is also the only team which has had only one captain for all 8 seasons till now. The only 3 matches when MS  Dhoni did not captain his side was when he was out injured, when Raina took over the reins. The minimum number of captains all other teams have had is 3!

 Playing smart at the auctions

Ever since the first season CSK has played it really smart in all the auctions. They are not the most miserly of spenders in the IPL auctions like the Rajasthan Royals, but they have managed to somehow pick players who have delivered. Some examples are Doug Bollinger, Mohit Sharma, Dwayne Smith, Chris Morris, Mike Hussey, Shadab Jakati, Albie Morkel and MS Gony– and these are not the core group of players retained by them, who have always played well when it matters the most!

 Team culture

CSK boasts of a great team bonding and culture. The feeling of oneness is quite evident. The players seem to enjoy each other’s company and success. The entire squad along with their coaching staff looks like one big family. Also the Chennai fans are some of the most passionate ones. You will see countless fan videos, songs and memes shared on the various social media websites on every CSK match day. Videos like the #CSKKaapiChallenge are proof of the great camaraderie within the CSK unit.

Composure on the field

Another, often undermined achievement is their Fairplay award wins. They have outplayed every other teams in this aspect of the game, winning it 5 out of 7 times. At the time of writing this article, it is leading the Fairplay award table in this season too. The only two occasions when CSK hasn’t been able to win the award was in 2009, when the Kings XI Punjab won it under the captaincy of Kumar Sangakkara and in 2012, when Rajasthan Royals won it under the captaincy of Rahul Dravid, both known for the cool heads themselves. This is a proof of how the captain has an effect on the way the team plays.

With captain cool MS Dhoni, at the helm of affairs since the beginning, the calmness dripped down to other players as well. Cool heads have ensured that the team has been able to win majority of their big games, often making it to the semis and finals.

Big players who have performed

CSK do have some big players, but just having these big names in their team is not enough. Importantly for them, their big players have consistently performed. Suresh Raina is the highest run-getter in IPL and has scored more than 400 runs in every single edition since its inception. MS Dhoni is 6^th on the list and has time and again played blinders at the end of the innings to bail his team out of trouble. Mike Hussey was incredibly consistent till the time they played for CSK too. Others big-ticket players like Dwayne Bravo, Brendon McCullum and Mathew Hayden also did justice to their status.