Chennai Super Kings returned to winning ways in 2021 when MS Dhoni marshalled the side to the IPL 2021 title – their fourth – in a season that was split into two halves due to the covid-19 outbreak in the multiple franchises, including CSK.
The franchise silenced all their detractors who have called for time for some of their stalwarts after the team failed to reach the playoffs in IPL 2020 due to multiple reasons. CSK finished second in the league phase, winning 9 out of 14 matches, before defeating Delhi Capitals and Kolkata Knight Riders in the Qualifier 1 and final respectively.
The franchise minted huge amount of money from the IPL 2021 even though the tournament was played amid the peak pandemic. The insane Television and media rights have made the board and the franchise multi-fold richer.
According to statista.com, Chennai Super Kings Cricket Limited, the company in which India Cements is the major stakeholder, reported a total revenue of over 2.5 billion Indian rupees in the financial year 2021. This was, however, a decrease from the previous year’s revenue that had soared over three billion rupees and the year before that was close to four billion. This decline was primarily due to the decrease in income from the BCCI’s grant of central rights.
The Super Kings have won the IPL title four times (in 2010, 2011, 2018, and 2021), and have the highest win percentage of matches among all teams in the IPL (60.56%). They hold the records of most appearances in the playoffs (eleven) and the final (nine) of the IPL. In addition, they have also won the Champions League Twenty20 in 2010 and 2014.
Meanwhile, CSK will come to defend their title in IPL 2022. At the mega-auction, they rebought some of their previous players – Deepak Chahar, Dwayne Bravo, Robin Uthappa, Ambati Rayudu, Mitchell Santner – while some talented new names such as Devon Conway, Dwaine Pretorius, Maheesh Theekshana, Rajvardhan Hangargekarna were also bought.
A 10-team tournament now, the IPL 2022 will kick-off on March 26 with the final set to be played on May 29. Four venues – the Wankhede Stadium and Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai, the DY Patil Sports Academy in Navi Mumbai, and the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Gahunje, in the outskirts of Pune – will host the league phase featuring 70 matches.
Also Read: “Shreyas Iyer Reminded Me Of Roger Federer And Novak Djokovic”
