Lesser Known Facts of Chennai Super Kings

Chennai Super Kings is one of the most successful teams in IPL history. This Chennai-based franchise has achieved a lot of glory & limelight under the captaincy of MS Dhoni, with as many as 3 IPL titles in just ten years. With some seasoned T20 veterans in their camp, CSK has mastered the trick of maintaining their high win percentage and consistency in the IPL. Being such a commendable franchise there are a lot of amazing, lesser-known/unknown csk facts about this team that has usually slipped under the hood

Here's a look at 10 such facts about Chennai Super Kings in the IPL:

#1. Most consecutive appearances for the same IPL franchise: (Suresh Raina-134)

The record for the most consecutive appearances for the same IPL franchise is held by Suresh Raina. He's been a part of CSK's playing squad since the very first season of IPL (2008), where he featured in straight 134 IPL matches before ruling out due to an injury. He missed out on a game against Kings XI Punjab in IPL 2018. Rohit Sharma is just behind him in this list with 133 consecutive matches for Mumbai Indians, followed by Virat Kohli with 129 games for RCB.

#2. 116/9 - CSK Lowest Score in IPL defended by any Team

You must have seen CSK always had a merry run in their IPL journey. But they were once winded-up for just 116 runs by the Kings XI Punjab bowlers in IPL 2009. However, despite losing hope, they fought their way up to clinch that game away by 24 runs as Punjab only managed to score 92 runs in their share of 20 overs. The game holds its historical essence as it happens to be the lowest score defended in IPL history.

#3. Most wickets in an IPL edition for a bowler: (Dwayne Bravo – 32)

It was IPL 2013, where Dwayne Bravo won his Purple Cap award for taking most wickets in that IPL season. He bagged a whopping total of 32 wickets in just 18 matches at an average of 15.53. He set the record for most wickets taken in a single IPL season. It took 8 years for any other bowler to match this record, when Harshal Patel (winner of Purple Cap) scalped 32 wickets in 2022 IPL season playing for RCB.

#4. First team to win all home matches in a single IPL season – 2011

In IPL 2011, Chennai unlocked a major feat when they went onto being victorious in all their home games that year. CSK became the first-ever team to win all their home matches in an IPL season. Mumbai Indians is the only other team after CSK to win all home matches in an IPL edition (2013).

#5. Highest win percentage for an IPL franchise (61.28 %)

CSK may not be the IPL team with the most wins, but certainly has the highest win percentage in IPL history. In all the matches in the IPL (till 2021) that CSK played (195), Chennai Super Kings total wins are 117 to go with their magnificent win percentage of 60%. Right behind them, second on that list is Mumbai Indians with a win percentage of 57.67 (125 wins from 217 matches).

#6. Most Purple Cap holders for a team – 4

CSK also bags the record for most Purple Cap winners in the history of IPL. Dwayne Bravo in IPL 2013 became the first CSK player to win the esteemed Purple Cap award. Later in the next 2 years, CSK managed to hang onto the Purple Cap with Mohit Sharma & Dwayne Bravo winning it for the respective years. Again, in IPL 2019, Imran Tahir picked the most wickets to claim that award.

#7. Most Fair Play awards for an IPL franchise – 6

The record for winning the most number of Fair Play awards in IPL history is held by Chennai Super Kings. The franchise has received the award on six occasions. They were the first side to win that particular award in the inaugural edition of IPL (2008). Later they won it on sequential occasions in 2010-11 before they won it thrice in a row from 2013-2015.

#8. Most wins under a single captain in the IPL- 99

Chennai Super Kings is by far the only team that has seen only 3 players who have captained the team through all these years. MS Dhoni has been the skipper for CSK in 194 IPL matches, out of which the team emerged victorious 117 times. That's the record for any franchise with the most number of wins under the same captain.

#9. Most appearances in an IPL final – 8

Chennai Super Kings has mastered the art of making it through the playoffs in almost all seasons they have been a part of, with 2020 being a rare failure. Out of those 12 seasons, the Dhoni-led troops made a record - 9 appearances in the IPL finals which also happens to be the record for the most number of appearances in IPL final.