MS Dhoni is probably one of the biggest names that India has produced in the history of the game. He was certainly the best captain that India had across formats. Under MS Dhoni, India won all three major ICC trophies. And he made a similar kind of impact in the Indian Premier League as well. Dhoni joined the Chennai Super Kings on February 20, 2008, when the franchise bought him at the auction for a price of USD 1.5 million.
He was the most expensive player. Since then, MSD has led CSK in 14 seasons and won five of those. He is still playing and leading the team. He has now completed 16 years with the franchise, and his first game as CSK captain was against the Punjab Kings on April 16, 2008. Here we will talk about the first ever playing XI for CSK under MS Dhoni and where those players are now.
Top Three: S. Badrinath, Jacob Oram, and Suresh Raina
S. Badrinath (31 off 14), Jacob Oram (13 off 10), and Suresh Raina (32 off 13) were the top three in the playing XI. Badrinath played in the IPL 2013 and after that, he played at the domestic level. But now he has retired and is seen in regional and Hindi commentary. Similarly, Raina played in the IPL until 2021, and now he is part of the commentary panel. Raina also plays in some T20 leagues for retired cricketers. Oram announced his retirement on October 13, 2009, and he hasn’t featured in any kind of competition since then nor as a commentator.
Middle Order: Michael Hussey, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Parthiv Patel, Matthew Hayden
Surprisingly, Matthew Hayden batted at No. 7 in that game and scored 25 off 17. He is retired and does commentary for Australian cricket and also for the IPL. MS Dhoni is still part of the CSK team, and he will be leading the side in the coming IPL 2024. Parthiv Patel has also retired and plays in some competitions for retired players. He is also part of the commentary panel at the domestic and international levels for India. Mike Hussey smashed 116* off 54 in that game, he is currently on the coaching staff for the CSK.
Bowlers: Muttiah Muralitharan, Manpreet Gony, Palani Amarnath, Joginder Sharma
Muttiah Muralitharan has also retired from all forms of cricket. He is currently on coaching staff for the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL. Joginder Sharma, who was the T20 World Cup 2007 hero, announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on February 3, 2023. He might be seen in action in Legends League cricket, but he is away from cricket at the moment. Former Tamil Nadu pacer Palani Amarnath retired from all forms in 2013 and is away from the game at the moment. Manpreet Gony was active at the domestic level until 2019, but after his retirement, he played in the Legends League Cricket.
