2018 Chennai Super Kings season

Chennai Super Kings

2018 season
Coach	Stephen Fleming [1]
Captain	MS Dhoni
Ground(s)	M.A.Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai MCA Stadium, Pune
IPL League	Champions
Most runs	Ambati Rayudu (602)
Most wickets	Shardul Thakur (16)
← 2015 2019 →

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) franchise cricket team based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, plays in the Indian Premier League (IPL). They are one of the eight teams that competed in the 2018 Indian Premier League. It was revealed that Mahendra Singh Dhoni would lead the team for the ninth season in succession, while Michael Hussey is in his first season as the team's batting coach.

Kings retained their former skipper MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina and all rounder Ravindra Jadeja from their IPL 2015 squad for 33 crores before 2018 player auction. ^[2]

The home matches of the Chennai Super Kings were under threat following the 2018 Cauvery water dispute and about 4000 security personnel were deployed in wake of the homecoming match for CSK against the Kolkata Knight Riders on April 10, 2018, at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium. ^{[3] [4] [5]} However, later BCCI announced that Pune would be the new temporary home ground for CSK for the remainder of the tournament following the ongoing protests in the state which couldn't be controlled by the security officials. ^{[6] [7] [8]}

In March 2019, a webseries titled Roar of The Lion (documentary) is set to be released based on CSK's epic success at the 2018 IPL where they managed to clinch the 2018 IPL trophy after serving a 2-year suspension. ^{[9] [10]}

IPL auction 2018

Watson was the highest Overseas Buy for CSK

Chennai Super Kings bought the following players in the 2018 auction:*Kedar Jadhav

• Dwayne Bravo
• Karn Sharma
• Shane Watson
• Shardul Thakur
• Ambati Rayudu
• Murali Vijay
• Harbhajan Singh
• Faf du Plessis
• Mark Wood
• Sam Billings
• Imran Tahir
• Deepak Chahar
• Mitchell Santner
• Lungi Ngidi
• KM Asif
• Narayan Jagadeesan
• Kanishk Seth
• Monu Singh
• Dhruv Shorey
• Kshitiz Sharma
• Chaitanya Bishnoi

Squad

• Players with international caps are listed in bold.

No.	Name	Nationality	Birth date	Batting style	Bowling style	Year signed	Salary	Notes
Batsmen
3	Suresh Raina	India	(1986-11-27)27 November 1986 (aged 31)	Left-handed	Right-arm off break	2018	₹11 crore (US$1.3 million)
9	Ambati Rayudu	India	(1985-09-23)23 September 1985 (aged 32)	Right-handed	Right-arm off break	2018	₹2.2 crore (US$260,000)
13	Faf du Plessis	South Africa	(1984-07-13)13 July 1984 (aged 33)	Right-handed	Right-arm leg break	2018	₹1.6 crore (US$189,000)	Overseas
66	Dhruv Shorey	India	(1992-06-05)5 June 1992 (aged 25)	Right-handed	Right-arm off break	2018	₹20 lakh (US$24,000)
81	Kedar Jadhav	India	(1985-03-26)26 March 1985 (aged 33)	Right-handed	Right-arm off break	2018	₹7.8 crore (US$922,593.40)
1	Murali Vijay	India	(1984-04-01)1 April 1984 (aged 34)	Right-handed	Right-arm off break	2018	₹2 crore (US$237,000)
All-rounders
5	Kshitiz Sharma	India	(1990-04-21)21 April 1990 (aged 27)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium	2018	₹20 lakh (US$24,000)
8	Ravindra Jadeja	India	(1988-12-06)6 December 1988 (aged 29)	Left-handed	Slow left-arm orthodox	2018	₹7 crore (US$827,968.40)
33	Shane Watson	Australia	(1981-06-17)17 June 1981 (aged 36)	Right-handed	Right-arm fast medium	2018	₹4 crore (US$473,000)	Overseas
36	Karn Sharma	India	(1987-10-23)23 October 1987 (aged 30)	Left-handed	Right-arm leg break	2018	₹5 crore (US$591,000)
47	Dwayne Bravo	Trinidad and Tobago	(1983-10-07)7 October 1983 (aged 34)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium fast	2018	₹6.4 crore (US$757,000)	Overseas
72	David Willey	England	(1990-02-28)28 February 1990 (aged 28)	Left-handed	Left-arm fast	2018	₹2 crore (US$237,000)	Overseas
Wicket-keepers
7	MS Dhoni	India	(1981-07-07)7 July 1981 (aged 36)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium	2018	₹15 crore (US$1.8 million)	Captain
18	Narayan Jagadeesan	India	(1995-12-24)24 December 1995 (aged 22)	Right-handed		2018	₹20 lakh (US$24,000)
77	Sam Billings	England	(1991-06-15)15 June 1991 (aged 26)	Right-handed		2018	₹1 crore (US$118,000)	Overseas
Bowlers
10	Chaitanya Bishnoi	India	(1994-08-25)25 August 1994 (aged 23)	Left-handed	Slow left-arm orthodox	2018	₹20 lakh (US$24,000)
11	Mark Wood	England	(1990-01-11)11 January 1990 (aged 28)	Right-handed	Right-arm fast	2018	₹1.5 crore (US$177,000)	Overseas
22	Lungi Ngidi	South Africa	(1996-03-29)29 March 1996 (aged 22)	Right-handed	Right-arm fast	2018	₹50 lakh (US$59,000)	Overseas
23	Monu Kumar	India	(1994-11-05)5 November 1994 (aged 23)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium	2018	₹20 lakh (US$24,000)
24	KM Asif	India	(1993-07-24)24 July 1993 (aged 24)	Right-handed	Right-arm fast medium	2018	₹40 lakh (US$47,000)
27	Harbhajan Singh	India	(1980-07-03)3 July 1980 (aged 37)	Right-handed	Right-arm off break	2018	₹2 crore (US$237,000)
34	Kanishk Seth	India	(1997-11-04)4 November 1997 (aged 20)	Right-handed	Left-arm medium	2018	₹20 lakh (US$24,000)
54	Shardul Thakur	India	(1991-10-16)16 October 1991 (aged 26)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium fast	2018	₹2.6 crore (US$308,000)
74	Mitchell Santner	New Zealand	(1992-02-05)5 February 1992 (aged 26)	Left-handed	Slow left-arm orthodox	2018	₹50 lakh (US$59,000)	Overseas
90	Deepak Chahar	India	(1992-08-07)7 August 1992 (aged 25)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium fast	2018	₹80 lakh (US$95,000)
99	Imran Tahir	South Africa	(1979-03-27)27 March 1979 (aged 39)	Right-handed	Right-arm leg break	2018	₹1 crore (US$118,000)	Overseas

Administration and support staff

• Owner – N. Srinivasan (India Cements)
• Head coach – Stephen Fleming ^[11]
• Batting coach - Michael Hussey ^[12]
• Bowling coach – Lakshmipathy Balaji
• Bowling consultant – Eric Simons ^[13]
• Fielding coach – Rajiv Kumar ^[14]
• Physical trainer – Gregory King ^[15]
• Physio – Tommy Simsek ^[15]
• Team Doctor – Dr.Madhu
• Team manager – Russell Radhakrishnan ^[15]

Season overview

Standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	NR	Pts	NRR
1	Sunrisers Hyderabad (RU)	14	9	5	0	18	0.284	Advanced to Qualifier 1
2	Chennai Super Kings (C)	14	9	5	0	18	0.253
3	Kolkata Knight Riders (3)	14	8	6	0	16	−0.070	Advanced to the Eliminator
4	Rajasthan Royals (4)	14	7	7	0	14	−0.250
5	Mumbai Indians	14	6	8	0	12	0.317
6	Royal Challengers Bangalore	14	6	8	0	12	0.129
7	Kings XI Punjab	14	6	8	0	12	−0.502
8	Delhi Daredevils	14	5	9	0	10	−0.222

Source: ESPNcricinfo

The four top ranked teams qualify for the playoffs.

Results by match

Match	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14
Ground	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H
Result	W	W	L	W	W	W	L	W	L	W	L	W	L	W
Position	1	1	3	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	2	2	2	2

Updated to match(es) played on 20 May 2018. Source: Fixtures
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Fixtures

League stage

All times are in Indian Standard Time (UTC+05:30)

7 April 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard

(H) Mumbai Indians 165/4 (20 overs)	v	Chennai Super Kings 169/9 (19.5 overs)
Suryakumar Yadav 43 (29) Shane Watson 2/29 (4 overs)		Dwayne Bravo 68 (30) Mayank Markande 3/23 (4 overs)

Chennai Super Kings won by 1 wicket Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai Umpires: Chris Gaffaney (New Zealand) and Nand Kishore (India) Player of the match: Dwayne Bravo (Chennai Super Kings)

• Chennai Super Kings won the toss and elected to field.

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10 April 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard

Kolkata Knight Riders 202/6 (20 overs)	v	Chennai Super Kings (H) 205/5 (19.5 overs)
Andre Russell 88* (36) Shane Watson 2/39 (4 overs)		Sam Billings 56 (23) Tom Curran 2/39 (3 overs)

Chennai Super Kings won by 5 wickets M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai Umpires: Anil Chaudhary (India) and Chris Gaffaney (New Zealand) Player of the match: Sam Billings (Chennai Super Kings)

• Chennai Super Kings won the toss and elected to field.

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15 April 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard

(H) Kings XI Punjab 197/7 (20 overs)	v	Chennai Super Kings 193/5 (20 overs)
Chris Gayle 63 (33) Shardul Thakur 2/33 (3 overs)		MS Dhoni 79* (44) Andrew Tye 2/47 (4 overs)

Kings XI Punjab won by 4 runs Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali Umpires: Vineet Kulkarni (India) and C. K. Nandan (India) Player of the match: Chris Gayle (Kings XI Punjab)

• Chennai Super Kings won the toss and elected to field.

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20 April 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard

(H) Chennai Super Kings 204/5 (20 overs)	v	Rajasthan Royals 140 (18.3 overs)
Shane Watson 106 (57) Shreyas Gopal 3/20 (4 overs)		Ben Stokes 45 (37) Karn Sharma 2/13 (1.3 overs)

Chennai Super Kings won by 64 runs Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune Umpires: K. N. Ananthapadmanabhan (India) and Nitin Menon (India) Player of the match: Shane Watson (Chennai Super Kings)

• Rajasthan Royals won the toss and elected to field.

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22 April 16:00 (D/N) Scorecard

Chennai Super Kings 182/3 (20 overs)	v	Sunrisers Hyderabad (H) 178/6 (20 overs)
Ambati Rayudu 79 (37) Bhuvneshwar Kumar 1/22 (3 overs)		Kane Williamson 84 (51) Deepak Chahar 3/15 (4 overs)

Chennai Super Kings won by 4 runs Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad Umpires: Anil Chaudhary (India) and Vineet Kulkarni (India) Player of the match: Ambati Rayudu (Chennai Super Kings)

• Sunrisers Hyderabad won the toss and elected to field.

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25 April 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard

(H) Royal Challengers Bangalore 205/8 (20 overs)	v	Chennai Super Kings 207/5 (19.4 overs)
AB de Villiers 68 (30) Dwayne Bravo 2/33 (4 overs)		Ambati Rayudu 82 (53) Yuzvendra Chahal 2/26 (4 overs)

Chennai Super Kings won by 5 wickets M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore Umpires: Nigel Llong (England) and Virender Sharma (India) Player of the match: MS Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings)

• Chennai Super Kings won the toss and elected to field.

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28 April 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard

(H) Chennai Super Kings 169/5 (20 overs)	v	Mumbai Indians 170/2 (19.4 overs)
Suresh Raina 75* (47) Mitchell McClenaghan 2/26 (4 overs)		Rohit Sharma 56* (33) Harbhajan Singh 1/20 (3.5 overs)

Mumbai Indians won by 8 wickets Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune Umpires: Chris Gaffaney (New Zealand) and Nitin Menon (India) Player of the match: Rohit Sharma (Mumbai Indians)

• Mumbai Indians won the toss and elected to field.

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30 April 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard

(H) Chennai Super Kings 211/4 (20 overs)	v	Delhi Daredevils 198/5 (20 overs)
Shane Watson 78 (40) Glenn Maxwell 1/5 (1 over)		Rishabh Pant 79 (45) K. M. Asif 2/43 (3 overs)

Chennai Super Kings won by 13 runs Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune Umpires: Anil Dandekar (India) and Chettithody Shamshuddin (India) Player of the match: Shane Watson (Chennai Super Kings)

• Delhi Daredevils won the toss and elected to field.
• Chennai Super Kings recorded their 100th T20 victory. ^[16]

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3 May 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard

Chennai Super Kings 177/5 (20 overs)	v	Kolkata Knight Riders (H) 180/4 (17.4 overs)
MS Dhoni 43* (25) Sunil Narine 2/20 (4 overs)		Shubman Gill 57* (36) Harbhajan Singh 1/20 (3 overs)

Kolkata Knight Riders won by 6 wickets Eden Gardens, Kolkata Umpires: Abhijit Deshmukh (India) and Kumar Dharmasena (Sri Lanka) Player of the match: Sunil Narine (Kolkata Knight Riders)

• Kolkata Knight Riders won the toss and elected to field.

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5 May 16:00 (D/N) Scorecard

Royal Challengers Bangalore 127/9 (20 overs)	v	Chennai Super Kings (H) 128/4 (18 overs)
Parthiv Patel 53 (41) Ravindra Jadeja 3/18 (4 overs)		Ambati Rayudu 32 (25) Umesh Yadav 2/15 (3 overs)

Chennai Super Kings won by 6 wickets Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune Umpires: Yeshwant Barde (India) and Nitin Menon (India) Player of the match: Ravindra Jadeja (Chennai Super Kings)

• Chennai Super Kings won the toss and elected to field.

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11 May 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard

Chennai Super Kings 176/4 (20 overs)	v	Rajasthan Royals (H) 177/6 (19.5 overs)
Suresh Raina 52 (35) Jofra Archer 2/42 (4 overs)		Jos Buttler 95* (60) Shardul Thakur 1/22 (4 overs)

Rajasthan Royals won by 4 wickets Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur Umpires: Yeshwant Barde (India) and Marais Erasmus (South Africa) Player of the match: Jos Buttler (Rajasthan Royals)

• Chennai Super Kings won the toss and elected to bat.

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13 May 16:00 (D/N) Scorecard

Sunrisers Hyderabad 179/4 (20 overs)	v	Chennai Super Kings (H) 180/2 (19 overs)
Shikhar Dhawan 79 (49) Shardul Thakur 2/32 (4 overs)		Ambati Rayudu 100* (62) Sandeep Sharma 1/36 (4 overs)

Chennai Super Kings won by 8 wickets Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune Umpires: Yeshwant Barde (India) and Marais Erasmus (South Africa) Player of the match: Ambati Rayudu (Chennai Super Kings)

• Chennai Super Kings won the toss and elected to field.

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18 May 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard

(H) Delhi Daredevils 162/5 (20 overs)	v	Chennai Super Kings 128/6 (20 overs)
Rishabh Pant 38 (26) Lungi Ngidi 2/14 (3 overs)		Ambati Rayudu 50 (29) Trent Boult 2/20 (4 overs)

Delhi Daredevils won by 34 runs Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi Umpires: Kumar Dharmasena (Sri Lanka) and Vineet Kulkarni (India) Player of the match: Harshal Patel (Delhi Daredevils)

• Chennai Super Kings won the toss and elected to field.

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20 May 20:00 (D/N) Scorecard

Kings XI Punjab 153 (19.4 overs)	v	Chennai Super Kings (H) 159/5 (19.1 overs)
Karun Nair 54 (26) Lungi Ngidi 4/10 (4 overs)		Suresh Raina 61* (48) Ankit Rajpoot 2/19 (4 overs)

Chennai Super Kings won by 5 wickets Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune Umpires: Yeshwant Barde (India) and Nitin Menon (India) Player of the match: Lungi Ngidi (Chennai Super Kings)

• Chennai Super Kings won the toss and elected to field.
• Rajasthan Royals qualified for the playoffs, Kings XI Punjab were eliminated and Chennai Super Kings advanced to Qualifier 1 as a result of this match.

Playoff stage

Qualifier 1

22 May 19:00 (D/N) Scorecard

Sunrisers Hyderabad 139/7 (20 overs)	v	Chennai Super Kings 140/8 (19.1 overs)
Carlos Brathwaite 43* (29) Dwayne Bravo 2/25 (4 overs)		Faf du Plessis 67* (42) Rashid Khan 2/11 (4 overs)

Chennai Super Kings won by 2 wickets Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai Umpires: Marais Erasmus (South Africa) and Chettithody Shamshuddin (India) Player of the match: Faf du Plessis (Chennai Super Kings)

• Chennai Super Kings won the toss and elected to field.

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Final

Main article: 2018 Indian Premier League final

27 May 19:00 (D/N) Scorecard

Sunrisers Hyderabad 178/6 (20 overs)	v	Chennai Super Kings 181/2 (18.3 overs)
Kane Williamson 47 (36) Ravindra Jadeja 1/24 (2 overs)		Shane Watson 117* (57) Carlos Brathwaite 1/27 (2.3 overs)

Chennai Super Kings won by 8 wickets Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai Umpires: Marais Erasmus (South Africa) and Sundaram Ravi (India) Player of the match: Shane Watson (Chennai Super Kings)

• Chennai Super Kings won the toss and elected to field.

Statistics

Most runs

Name	Mat	Inn	Runs	HS	Ave	SR
Ambati Rayudu	16	16	602	100*	43.00	149.75
Shane Watson	15	15	555	117*	39.64	154.59
MS Dhoni	16	15	455	79*	75.83	150.66
Suresh Raina	15	15	445	75*	37.08	132.44
Faf du Plessis	6	6	162	67*	32.40	125.58

• Source: ESPNcricinfo ^[17]

Most wickets

Name	Mat	Inn	Wkts	BBI	Ave	Eco
Shardul Thakur	13	13	16	2/18	26.93	9.23
Dwayne Bravo	16	16	14	2/16	38.07	9.96
Lungi Ngidi	7	7	11	4/10	14.18	6.00
Ravindra Jadeja	16	14	11	3/18	27.54	7.39
Deepak Chahar	12	12	10	3/15	27.80	7.28

• Source: ESPNcricinfo ^[18]

References

1. "Stephen Fleming appointed as head coach of CSK in 2018 IPL". deccan chronicle. 19 January 2018.
2. "Dhoni, Raina and Jadeja retained by CSK in 2018 IPL". The Times of India . 9 January 2018.
3. "4,000 security personnel to be deployed for Chennai IPL match in wake of Cauvery protests - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
4. "Protests over Cauvery find new ground in IPL". Times of India. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
5. "IPL 2018: Madras HC hears PIL seeking stay on forthcoming season, issues notices to BCCI and Centre". Firstpost. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
6. "Cauvery protests force IPL out of Chennai, Pune is new CSK home". The Indian Express. 12 April 2018. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
7. "Cauvery turmoil forces BCCI to shift CSK home games to Pune - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
8. "Dhoni to return to Pune as CSK forced to move home venue". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
9. "MS Dhoni bared his soul in Roar of the Lion: Kabir Khan". The Indian Express. 12 March 2019. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
10. "MS Dhoni to feature in Hotstar's docu-drama Roar of the Lion". The Indian Express. 5 March 2019. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
11. "Stephen Fleming appointed as head coach of CSK in 2018 IPL". deccan chronicle. 19 January 2018.
12. "Michael Hussey appointed CSK batting coach". Cricbuzz. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
13. "Chennai Super Kings appoint Eric Simons as bowling consultant". 14 February 2018.
14. "IPL 2018: Dhoni's Ranji skipper Rajiv now CSK fielding coach". 30 March 2018.
15. "The Official Website of Chennai Super Kings". Chennai Super Kings. Archived from the original on 6 June 2013. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
16. "IPL 2018: CSK join MI in elite list after 100th T20 victory". India Today. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
17. "CSK Most Runs in IPL 2018". ESPNcricinfo.
18. "CSK Most Wickets in IPL 2018". ESPNcricinfo.