Contents
Team Chennai Introduction
Chennai is one of the most prominent Indian T20 Premier League teams and has been crowned champions three times – in 2010, 2011, and 2018. Led by the enigmatic MS Dhoni, Chennai is a force every season, and it is going to be no different in 2021. It is the most successful team in the history of the tournament in terms of winning percentage – 59.5.
The four time champions holds the record for most appearances in the T20 league playoffs (10) and has qualified for the final eight times. The franchise was banned from the Indian T20 league for two years in 2016 and 2017 but came back in style in 2018 to lift the trophy for the third time. Often known as Dad’s Army, due to the average age in the team being over 30, the southern giants consistently punches above their weight in the competition. The team did not have a good time in 2020 and will be itching to get back to winning ways in the 2021 edition.
Chennai Team Origin: Founded in 2008, the Chennai team plays all of its home games at MA Chidambaram Stadium, also known as the Chepauk Stadium.
Team Owners: The Chennai team is owned by India Cements, whose parent company is India Cements.
Team’s Last Year Glimpse: Chennai had its most subpar season in 2020 when they could not qualify for the playoffs for the first time in history. Right from the start of the edition, they was hampered by off-field issues. Harbhajan Singh pulled out of the tournament before the league even began, while Suresh Raina too pulled out after the team reached Dubai. A few of the players were infected with COVID, which meant Chennai was severely under-prepared going into the tournament. The side beat Mumbai in the first match of the season, but it all went downhill thereon. It could win only two of its next 10 games and was out of contention to qualify for the playoffs.
Where the team currently stands: Chennai is currently the defending champions in the Indian T20 Premier League 2021 after beating Kolkata in the final.
Team’s ex-captains, Current Coaches, Home Ground: MS Dhoni has led the franchise in 174 of the 179 matches they have played and is currently its captain. He missed a few games, and in his absence, Suresh Raina led Chennai.
The former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming is currently the head coach of Chennai. Michael Hussey is the batting coach, while former India speedster Lakshmipathy Balaji is Chennai’s bowling coach. Chennai plays all of its home games at MA Chidambaram Stadium.
List of all players in the team along with their nationality:
Chennai, as always, boasts of a lot of experienced players in their setup for the upcoming 2021 season. However, this time around, the franchise has also included several uncapped local players in their squad. Here is the entire Chennai team for the 2021 season, along with their respective nationalities.
- MS Dhoni (India)
- KM Asif (India)
- Moeen Ali (England)
- Bhagath Varma (India)
- Dwayne Bravo (West Indies)
- Deepak Chahar (India)
- Sam Curran (England)
- Faf du Plessis (South Africa)
- Ruturaj Gaikwad (India)
- Krishnappa Gowtham (India)
- C Hari Nishaanth (India)
- Josh Hazlewood (Australia)
- Imran Tahir (South Africa)
- Ravindra Jadeja (India)
- Narayan Jagadeesan (India)
- Lungi Ngidi (South Africa)
- Cheteshwar Pujara (India)
- Suresh Raina (India)
- Ambati Rayudu (India)
- Harishankar Reddy (India)
- Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore (India)
- Mitchell Santner (New Zealand)
- Karn Sharma (India)
- Shardul Thakur (India)
- Robin Uthappa (India)
Top Auctioned Players of 2021:
Chennai retained 18 of its players from the year 2020 while they traded Robin Uthappa in the side from Rajasthan in an all-cash deal. They had a largely successful auction as well, where they brought six players.
Here is the complete list of players Chennai bid for in this year’s auction.
- Krishnappa Gowtham – INR 9.25 crore
- Moeen Ali – INR 7 crore
- Cheteshwar Pujara – INR 50 lakh
- Bhagath Varma – INR 20 lakh
- C Hari Nishaanth – INR 20 lakh
- Harishankar Reddy – INR 20 lakh
Indian T20 League Schedule 2021 for Chennai Team
Chennai will play most of its games this season in Mumbai (5), followed by Delhi (4), Bengaluru (3), and Kolkata (2).
| Day & Date | Match | City | Time (IST) |
| Saturday, 10 April | vs Delhi | Mumbai | 7:30 PM |
| Friday, 16 April | vs Punjab | Mumbai | 7:30 PM |
| Monday, 19 April | vs Rajasthan | Mumbai | 7:30 PM |
| Wednesday, 21 April | vs Kolkata | Mumbai | 7:30 PM |
| Sunday, 25 April | vs Bangalore | Mumbai | 3:30 PM |
| Wednesday, 28 April | vs Hyderabad | Delhi | 7:30 PM |
| Saturday, 1 May | vs Mumbai | Delhi | 7:30 PM |
| Sunday, 19 September | vs Mumbai | Dubai | 7:30 PM |
| Friday, 24 September | vs Bangalore | Sharjah | 7:30 PM |
| Sunday, 26 September | vs Kolkata | Abu Dhabi | 3:30 PM |
| Thursday, 30 September | vs Hyderabad | Sharjah | 7:30 PM |
| Saturday, 2 October | vs Rajasthan | Abu Dhabi | 7:30 PM |
| Monday 4 October | vs Delhi | Dubai | 7:30 PM |
| Thursday, 7 October | vs Punjab | Dubai | 3:30 PM |
Visit our Blog section to find more details about the teams, players, news, and match predictions. In addition, you can also read about various tips and tricks that will help you in creating fantasy cricket teams on MPL.
Things to Know & Facts about the Chennai team
Chennai is one of the most popular franchises in the Indian T20 league and has forged a good fan base over the years. Its fans throng the stadiums like no other and are very vocal in support of its team. Here are some more facts about the Men in Yellow.
- Chennai is the most successful team in the history of the Indian T20 league in terms of winning percentage. With a win% of 59.5, they are slightly ahead of Mumbai (59.1).
- MS Dhoni has led Chennai in 174 of the 179 matches they have played. This is comfortably the most number of matches any player has led a single side in the tournament.
- MS Dhoni holds the record for the most number of matches played by any player in the tournament. He has played 204 games in the league.
- No other team has entered the tournament’s playoffs (10) and finals (8) than Chennai.
- With 5368 runs in 193 matches, Suresh Raina is the leading run-scorer for Chennai in the competition.
Past Performance of Chennai in T20 Premier League
Chennai is one of the most popular teams in the tournament and has been a front-runner in the competition right from Season 1. They have qualified for the playoffs 10 times and reached the final a record eight times. Here we have a look at the past performances of the team in the league.
| Year | Performance |
| 2008 | Runners-up |
| 2009 | Semi-finalists |
| 2010 | Winners |
| 2011 | Winners |
| 2012 | Runners-up |
| 2013 | Runners-up |
| 2014 | Lost to Punjab in Qualifier 2 |
| 2015 | Runners-up |
| 2016 | Suspended |
| 2017 | Suspended |
| 2018 | Winners |
| 2019 | Runners-up |
| 2020 | Finished 7th and failed to qualify for the playoffs |
| 2021 | Winners |
How Team Stats can help you on MPL?
MPL is your one-stop destination for all things related to fantasy cricket. Using the team statistics will help you build your fantasy teams for the Indian fantasy T20 premier league. MPL provides you with all the latest updates regarding team news, injury updates, weather conditions that will help you build your fantasy dream team. Get going by downloading the MPL fantasy cricket app and start building your fantasy T20 team. We have a new points system in place as well with bonus points for strike rates, economy rates and catches.
MS Dhoni currently leads the Chennai team. He has led the side in every season of the Indian T20 Premier League they have been a part of.
The home ground of Chennai is the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
Chennai has won 40 of its 56 matches played at the home ground. That is a win percentage of 71.4%.
Chennai has won the T20 Premier League finals on three occasions – 2010, 2011 and 2018.
Dwayne Bravo won the Purple Cap for Chennai twice in 2013 (32 wickets) and 2015 (26 wickets). Mohit Sharma won the Purple Cap while playing for Chennai in 2014 (23 wickets). Imran Tahir, with 26 wickets in 2019, was the Purple Cap winner for Chennai in 2019.
Matthew Hayden scored 572 runs in the second season of the Indian T20 league and was the Orange Cap holder. Michael Hussey won the Orange Cap for the franchise in 2013. The latest Chennai player to win the orange cap is Ruturaj Gaikwad in 2021.
