The Chennai Super Kings (CSK), captained by MS Dhoni and coached by Stephen Fleming, is the most consistent franchise in IPL history. Not only they have won 5 IPL titles, same as the Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai Indians, but Chennai Super Kings (CSK) also have most number of appearances in IPL playoffs.
Captain MS Dhoni and head coach Stephen Fleming must be given the credit for bringing the best out of their players. There have been a number of players who struggled at other franchises, but Dhoni and Fleming brought the best out of them at CSK.
3 multi-franchise players who were at their best at the Chennai Super Kings (CSK):
Shivam Dube
From being trolled mercilessly on social media during his time at RCB, Shivam Dube had his best time in the IPL in IPL 2023 season with the Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
While RCB tried to use him as a finisher, MS Dhoni recognized his spin-bashing abilities and promoted him to the number 4 and number 5 position. He even came ahead of Ambati Rayudu in some matches as Dhoni sent him to take down the spinners in the middle-overs.
While Dube averaged only 16 and struck at 122 when playing for RCB, at CSK, his average is 33 and strike rate is 157. He didn’t have a single fifty at RCB and now he has 5 fifties at CSK.
Shane Watson
Many might have felt that Shane Watson’s IPL career was over when he struggled at RCB in the 2016 and 2017 IPL seasons. But Dhoni brought out the best in Watson when he arrived at CSK.
At RCB, Watson averaged only 13 and had a strike rate of 117. But at CSK, he averaged 30 and struck at 136. The Australian smashed 7 fifties and 2 centuries at CSK, but had no half-century at RCB in two seasons. Watson won the 2018 IPL title with CSK, smashing a century in the final, and reached till the final in 2019, where he hit a fifty, but CSK lost that final to Mumbai Indians.
R Ashwin
It isn’t a coincidence that R Ashwin’s downfall in white-ball cricket started after 2015 when CSK was banned and then he has played for four different franchises since 2016. Ashwin lost his place in India’s white-ball teams and couldn’t remain good enough to be retained by his IPL franchises for long since 2016. At CSK, his bowling average was only 24, while at his other four franchises, Ashwin’s IPL bowling average is more than 30.
