Chennai Super Kings Team 2021 Players List And What Led to Their 4th Title Win

image-lg7y0s77CSK was crowned champions for the fourth time at IPL 2021. (IPLT20.com)

In an exceptional storyline, Mahendra Singh Dhoni played his role perfectly as he captained the Chennai Super Kings to their fourth Indian Premier League championship in 2021, convincingly defeating the Kolkata Knight Riders by a margin of 27 runs in a one-sided final. 

Undoubtedly the most admired and respected captain in Indian cricket history, led a team of seasoned players with ample experience as they set a challenging target and claimed victory.

Therefore, we present to you the side that lifted the trophy for the fourth time.

Openers: Ruturaj Gaikwad & Faf du Plessis

In the final match between CSK and KKR, there were numerous key factors that contributed to CSK's victory and led them to their magnificent fourth win.

One of them was the solid performance of opening batters Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis throughout the season, which continued in the final as they hit regular boundaries and rotated the strike effectively to help CSK reach a score of 50/1 in the Powerplay.

Ruturaj maintained his good form by taking advantage of bad deliveries, while Faf played a supporting role and reached 27 runs by the end of the sixth over. The duo also became the third CSK opening combination to achieve a 50-run partnership in an IPL final, following Hussey and Vijay in 2011 and 2012.

Middle Order: Robin Uthappa, Moeen Ali, Ambati Rayudu & MS Dhoni

Apart from this, Robin Uthappa made his debut for Chennai Super Kings in the 13th match of the season, and although he was originally brought in as a replacement for the injured Suresh Raina, he impressed with his batting performances in limited opportunities and cemented his place as the number three batsman in the side. He played a crucial role in the Qualifier 1 game against Delhi Capitals, where he scored 63 runs and formed a 110-run partnership with Ruturaj Gaikwad.

In the final match, Uthappa continued his good form and played an important innings, scoring 31 runs in just 15 deliveries. He hit three KKR spinners - Shakib Al Hasan, Varun Chakravarthy, and Sunil Narine - for a six each, which helped CSK reach the 100-run mark in the 12th over of the innings.

Moeen Ali was at his very best with both bat and ball as he scored 357 runs and bagged 6 wickets to good effect. Ali's presence was more than a boon for the Super Kings as his calming show did wonders for the side.

The aggressor for CSK in the middle overs, Ambati Rayudu came in and struck 257 runs at a strike rate of 151 which helped the side post a heavy total on the board. Moreover, the Andra-based cricketer's experience was the big positive that came in handy for the Chepauk side as he took on the very best of bowlers.

Next in the list is renowned former Indian cricketer MS Dhoni who has been absolutely magnificent with his decisions taken over the last fifteen years. Dhoni's finishing abilities are no stranger to anyone and the most prominent one came against Delhi Capitals in the playoffs. The fandom that this man carries with him is the prime reason for the universal fan following of this franchise.

All-Rounders: Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Shardul Thakur

The likes of Ravindra Jadeja and Dwayne Bravo have displayed their class throughout the past editions with their outstanding consistent performances with the ball. More importantly, with the bat, they have thumped some huge blows in the later stages of the game. Game awareness is something that has always been the prime weapon of these two.

Shardul Thakur's extraordinary talent hasn't gone unnoticed as his mind-blowing big-hitting strokes has always been the talking point. With the ball, he was equally lethal with the ball dismissing well-set batters.

Bowlers: Deepak Chahar & Josh Hazlewood

Even the CSK bowling unit put on a collective performance, with Shardul Thakur, Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar, and Josh Hazlewood all contributing. Although KKR's openers had a strong start, putting up 91 runs for the first wicket in just 10.4 overs, the CSK bowlers remained determined. 

Thakur took a crucial wicket to provide the breakthrough, while Chahar and Hazlewood maintained the pressure on the KKR batsmen and kept their scoring rate low. Ravindra Jadeja then took advantage of the situation by taking two wickets in successive deliveries.

Other Standouts

The long-time servant of the Super Kings, Suresh Raina was the reason why CSK was so much successful all these years rescuing the Yellow Army on numerous occasions. In his final season, Chinna Thala was just a shadow of himself. However, his contribution can't be ignored.

Sam Curran has been a fighter for any side he has represented, but his most remembered stint came for CSK as his versatile potential was unleashed.

CSK Full Squad 2021

MS Dhoni (c), Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Faf du Plessis, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Robin Uthappa, Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar, Dwayne Bravo, Shardul Thakur, Imran Tahir, Sam Curran, Karn Sharma, N. Jagadeesan, KM Asif, Sai Kishore, Lungi Ngidi, Mitchell Santner, Josh Hazlewood, Moeen Ali, K Gowtham, Cheteshwar Pujara, M Harisankar Reddy, K Bhagath Varma, C Hari Nishaanth