Dewald Brevis
| Photo Credit: R. RAGU

Chepauk was wrapped in a cricketing time capsule – one where the past and the present met.

The hallowed MA Chidambaram cricket ground has seen thrilling sporting clashes, thanks to it hosting some great India and Chennai Super Kings matches. But Sunday evening was about something different: celebrating what the men in yellow have meant to Chennaiites over the years.

It was, in many ways, a pat on the back for the 20,000 people assembled to witness ‘Roar 26’. A sea of yellow engulfed Chepauk as passionate fans brought out the whistles — not just for this curtain raiser for the upcoming IPL 2026, but also for a musical concert by AR Rahman. Here, key highlights from the ‘Roar 26’ event, held at Chepauk on Sunday evening:

Nostalgia stirred

Other cities have cricket franchises. Chennai has an emotion — the Chennai Super Kings. One to which every player returns, years after moving away from cricket, and some even a decade after moving on to other franchises. That probably explains why players like Mutthiah Muralidharan, Joginder Sharma, Murali Vijay, Harbhajan Singh, Dwayne Bravo and Michael Hussey — few of the names that have contributed significantly to the success of the team over the years — lined up to have a friendly cricketing clash with the current CSK squad.

Watching the OG squad in action got every cricketing fan in the stadium go down memory lane. “These players were an integral part of my growing-up years,” says Rakesh M, a fan from Ashok Nagar, “As fans, we now back different players, but when you look back at our franchise’s history, these are the OG stars that started the fandom.” With veteran Muralidharan bowling to the current sensation, Sanju Samson, even as MS Dhoni crouched low behind the stumps, Chennai slipped into a different decade.

‘Chinna Thala’ bonds with ‘Thala’

If the city took on to MS Dhoni in a big way, even calling him ‘Thala’ wherever he went, his trusted lieutenant was none other than ‘Chinna Thala’ Suresh Raina. Chennai’s love affair with Raina — fondly dubbed Mr IPL — has lasted several years and the loud cheers he received at the ground, something that spectators usually reserve only for Dhoni, showcased how much he means to the city.

Along with Matthew Hayden, Raina was inducted into the franchise’s first-ever Hall of Fame. Part of four IPL-winning CSK squads in the past, Raina stated, “CSK is the best franchise and they have the best fans in the world. The crowd here is very knowledgeable — they know their cricket — and have been so supportive to the team over the years; that’s why we got all those trophies.”

Practice makes perfect

In 2018-19, when Team CSK practised at Chepauk in the evenings before the commencement of the tournament, thousands of fans enthusiastically cheered them. The sight of more than 12,000 fans lining up just to watch a practice match had the cricketing community across the world in awe.

Sunday evening presented a similar experience, with the current squad of 2026, including the likes of Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube and Noor Ahmed, getting some time at the nets, which Chennai cheered with much fervour.

A different pitch

Post the cricketing highlights and nostalgia, the stage was set for music. If Asal Kolaar and Paal Dabba got the crowd grooving to popular tracks like ‘Makamishi’ and ‘Paiya Dei’, the Mozart of Madras, AR Rahman, kickstarted with an energetic ‘Yuva’, following by Shweta Mohan-driven melodies (‘Nenjinile’ and ‘Munbe Vaa’), dedicated to Sanju Samson and Suresh Raina. The loudest cheers were dedicated to the popular ‘Nee Singam Dan’ tracks, with the cameras panning on MS Dhoni vibing to the track along with his daughter.

Actor Sivakarthikeyan, who said he was invited as a representative of CSK fans, turned into a fanboy as he excitedly shook hands with Dhoni, Sanju and posed for photographs with the team. “I live 25 kilometres from Chepauk – on the ECR – but whenever Dhoni walks in, I can hear the noise back home. I am just one of the many fans here who have been inspired by his leadership skills. IPL can be about entertainment, but CSK has always been an emotion and family,” said the actor, referring to Dhoni as Mufasa and current captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, as Simba.

Singling out the latest CSK entrant Sanju Samson, affectionately called ‘Cheta’ by fans, he said, “We all know of the bonding between Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Malayalam films are hits here. All the heroines from Kerala are superhits here. And now, you are a cricketer from Kerala representing Chennai… you are a blockbuster.”

The class of 2026 is new. Prashant Veer, Karthik Sharma and Sarfaraz Khan are some of the exciting new players to watch out for. . The faces may have changed, but the emotion and belief remains the same. This IPL 2026, the whistles are back.

Published – March 23, 2026 01:22 pm IST

If there was an award for ‘Most Animated Coach of the Year’, Ashish Nehra would definitely be in the running.

For, much like football’s Pep Guardiola of Manchester City, Nehra, currently the coach of Gujarat Titans, patrols the boundaries during IPL matches, constantly chatting and interacting with his players on cricket strategies.

It is a coaching style that is not too familiar to Indian cricket fans, but this is Nehra’s style. “That’s the way I am,” he says candidly over a virtual conversation, “If I am not operating the way I feel like, I should be in the movies. Because there are retakes there, but not in sport. As a coach, one should do whatever is best for the team.”

Nehra knows that, as does his Delhi teammate and friend, Gautam Gambhir, who was recently appointed as the coach of the Indian team. Gambhir, known as an aggressive coach, is currently on his first official assignment in Sri Lanka and Nehra wishes him well. “GG is very passionate, hardworking and never minces his words. With him, there will be transparency. Indian cricket has shown positive results in the last few years and under Gautam, that will only improve,” says Nehra, who is part of the commentary team in the ongoing India-Sri Lanka series.

‘CSK is special’

Ashish Nehra, a left-arm pacer with a gift to swing and seam the cricket ball, tasted success as an Indian fast bowler in the early 2000s. Later, once the IPL gained popularity, Nehra also had a memorable stint with the Chennai Super Kings, a phase he looks back with fondness. “It was a great franchise but they were also lucky that MS Dhoni and Stephen Fleming stuck together for a long time. CSK is a special franchise even for youngsters, who learn a lot. Going forward, I don’t think we will see the same coach and captain for many years in a franchise.”

MS Dhoni, who has been associated with the Chennai franchise since its inception, is younger than Nehra, but that has not stopped the pacer from learning from him. “For me, the most important thing about MS (Dhoni) is that he has remained the same. No one wants to lose, but he has been the same with people, irrespective of results.”

At his prime, Nehra’s deliveries were considered hard to face but he himself had to face quite a bit of hardship; Nehra was injury-prone and had to reportedly undergo almost ten surgeries during his playing days. Prod him about that and he says, “Well, no one wants to get injured but yes, they happened to me. Experience teaches you how to handle these things. It also required a lot of mental strength to overcome those phases. I tell youngsters to take care of themselves, especially if they want to play the longer format of the game. For batting, wicketkeeping or spin bowling, fitness is key, but it becomes the all-important factor for a fast bowler. 80 percent of pace bowling is about how you handle your body. Whoever is fitter will play longer.”

India-Sri Lanka matches are streaming on the Sony Sports Network

Ambati Rayudu interview: On IPL 2024, his stint at CSK and dabbling in politics

A lot can change in a year; Ambati Rayudu knows that.

Last May, he was jumping with joy at the Chennai Super Kings’ dugout in Ahmedabad, having contributed to one of IPL’s most memorable finals that the men in yellow won off the last ball. Late into the night, MS Dhoni would receive the trophy and hand it over to a beaming Rayudu in his last IPL match as a cricket player.

This May, Rayudu — now a commentator with Star Sports and talking about the game with as much passion as he once played it — was desolate, as he saw his former team get knocked out of TATA IPL 2024 on a rainy Saturday evening in Bangalore. In a video that is now going viral among cricket fans, Rayudu sits, his face buried in his hands, in disbelief.

Rayudu was showing his emotions, like he has always done. “Yes, I am an emotional being,” he tells me over a virtual conversation, a day before the CSK-RCB match, “I’ve always wanted things to be fair, and always fought for what I believe is right.”

Currently, the six-time IPL champion is busy with a hectic commentary stint. It is not something he would have fancied when he was a player, but Rayudu is enjoying it nevertheless. “I didn’t know if I would be good at it, because I hardly spoke during my playing days. But, with friends and family, I used to love discussing cricket. I pride myself as being a good student of the game and trying to understand its various intricacies. Broadcasting and commentating are new to me and I’m slowly trying to understand how things work, though many a time, I speak from the heart. I’m just happy I am still connected to the sport.”

Batting for CSK

IPL 2024 might have ended on a sour note for CSK, but Dhoni and Jadeja — the two men who were at the crease during the last moments of the recent Bangalore game — have been Chennai’s favourite IPL stars for many years now. Recalling the moments leading up to the famous CSK win of 2023, Rayudu says, “Remember Dhoni lifting Jadeja after he won us the game? We all know what CSK means to Dhoni, but it proved what it meant to Jadeja, who has been the team’s go-to man, be it batting, bowling or fielding.”

Rayudu was a star with Mumbai Indians in the earlier editions of IPL but has been vocal about his support for Chennai Super Kings, with which he had a successful stint. So, what is the amazing team environment that everyone raves about? “CSK is family. They let you be. At CSK, you are treated just the way you are treated at home; I’m not saying there is no pressure to win, but it’s the way you are treated at home, with parents or siblings. Every player feels like he belongs. The management and the support staff never speaks negatively and never puts you down. Even players who are not playing are constantly looked after; when that happens, you want to give your best. Say, if a player’s capacity is to score a 50 off 20 balls, due to this environment, you would like to do it in 18. This is why many players, who might not have played so well for other franchises, bloom here.” What also helps is the loyalty factor among players; someone like an MS Dhoni has been with the team since its inception. “Even after his retirement, I’m sure he will be associated with the team in a major capacity.”

Rayudu has been associated with Indian cricket for a long time — playing for India was the most memorable moment of his career — but he feels that the IPL, conceptualised in 2008, has brought the game closer to fans. “They understand T-20 cricket better, and they identify more with the players. The league is also a game-changer in terms of identifying talent. Previously, even if you were a talented player, you could get lost in the system if you are not identified by a certain set of selectors. But the IPL has been a great platform and throws the spotlight on players; a cricketer like Ashutosh Sharma (Punjab Kings) might not have been identified if he played only for the Railways. That’s the beauty of the IPL.”

The cricketer also dabbled in politics for a while, and this election season, he actively supported popular actor and Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan. He hopes to play an active role in public life in the future. “I believe sport can be a unifying factor in bringing people together,” says Rayudu, who also runs a foundation in Guntur that helps people from disadvantaged sections of society,“I believe equal opportunities should be available; I have suffered in the past due to a lot of factors. I hope that a player, even without any godfather, should be able to play the sport just based on his or her talent. I’m looking forward to playing an important role in developing Andhra Pradesh as a better place to live in.”

Watch TATA IPL playoffs and final this week on the Star Sports Network

Chennai Super Kings M.S. Dhoni plays a shot during the Indian Premier League 2024 match against Lucknow Super Giants in Lucknow on April 19, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Sandeep Saxena

The fans are clamouring for MS Dhoni to move up the batting order. In an ideal world, the team management would also like it that way, and Brian Lara too feels the talisman should be asked, “would you like to bat higher?” But the West Indies great knows that the 42-year-old, whose ability to bat for extended periods has been restricted by a chronic knee problem, “won’t” consider a promotion in the batting order.

Besides the knee issue, Dhoni is also at a stage where he is looking to give the youngsters a chance to prove their mettle.

“It’s just brilliant. The question has to be asked would you like to bat higher? Because I can see he’s making valuable contributions. But there are a couple of losing causes as well. So, I think that should be a consideration,” Lara told Star Sports.

The Chennai Super Kings legend gave his team the much-needed impetus with a nine-ball 28 against Lucknow Super Giants in Lucknow on April 19, one of the few entertaining cameos he has played this IPL season. CSK, though, lost the game by eight wickets after being stopped at 176/6.

Lara added, “At 42, he’s most likely thinking from the teams point of view, that the young guys got to do the job. But I think the middle of the innings told a little bit too much about CSK batting. And it created the fact that even though he exploded at the end and he did that Dhoni thing at the end and it still was not enough.

“So, I think they will have to go back to the drawing room. And realise that they need to be a little bit more aggressive throughout the innings. Because at the back end, you’ve got the man to come.

“And if he gets two three overs, as he did against Mumbai Indians. And propelled them above 200. They need to think about that all the time.” Against LSG, Dhoni slammed a four and a six off Mohsin Khan before smashing Yash Thakur for another maximum. He finished the innings with two more fours as 19 came off the last over.

Lara shared his thoughts on moments when Dhoni comes out to bat and the loud cheers it generates across venues.

“That’s the terrific part of the game. I’ve said it over and over again, when you have a guy aged 42, a legend, an icon in the game, someone who has played in the IPL for so many years and you don’t know when he’s going to say, hey, that’s it.

“He comes out to bat and I think it’s just a moment to savour and everyone is just going to feel amazing about this. It’s going to be a lot of emotions, but then he walks out and does the business,” Lara said.

“He may not have to look and say, ‘listen, I may have to go up the order because I may need a little bit more runs’. He has batted five, six times now and remained unbeaten. So, any team strategising would say, ‘well, obviously you have to go up’. But I don’t think he will.” CSK head coach Stephen Fleming had earlier claimed that the team isn’t surprised by what the former skipper has done with the bat this season, saying his skill level during pre-season was very high.

When the discussion turned to Dhoni’s fitness and running between the wickets, Lara said, “He’s still doing it today and let’s make sure that he’s on the park for all the matches in this IPL for CSK.

“But yeah, running between the wickets where he is aware of the situation and aware of that the matchup for him is just the correct matchup.

“And it just looked like when you look at the counter, there’s two umpires, 11 fielders, and a bowler, and then there’s these fans, and they all just look like spectators when he’s striking the ball.

“Fielders diving to his left, he can’t get it, fielders looking his head, he can’t get it. It’s just his show. He’s just scripted it so well.”

MS Dhoni of Chennai Super Kings hooks Moshin Khan of Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL match at Ekana stadium in Lucknow on Friday .
| Photo Credit: SANDEEP SAXENA

His brilliant form notwithstanding, Mahendra Singh Dhoni cannot be promoted in the batting order as his recovery from a knee injury has restricted his ability to wield the willow for long periods, Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming has said.

Called CSK’s “heartbeat” by Fleming, Dhoni, 42, gave his team the much-needed impetus with a nine-ball 28 against Lucknow Super Giants here on Friday, one of the few entertaining cameos he has played this season.

The few balls that Dhoni is getting to face in this IPL season, Fleming said he is simply “owning that space”.

Hailing Dhoni, Fleming said, “It’s inspirational, isn’t it? His batting this year even in training has been very crisp. The team isn’t surprised with what he is doing because his skill level during the pre-season was very high.”

“Other years he has obviously had problems with his knee and he is sort of recovering from that which is why there is only a certain amount of balls he can function well.”

Further opening up on Dhoni’s role, Fleming pointed out his ‘two-three over’ approach.

“I think everyone wants to see him for longer as we do but that amount of time is about right. We need him for the tournament and that 2-3 over cameo he is owning that space.

“It’s up to the rest of the batting unit to get us to a good position where he can push us over the top. He is doing that pretty much every time at the moment which is great to watch,” Fleming said at the post-match press conference.

The long-time CSK coach said former skipper Dhoni, who guided the team to five IPL titles, remains the franchise’s heartbeat and that they are “enjoying every minute” of his presence as the fans shower him with love and adulation across venues.

“What an amazing atmosphere when he comes out and does play and entertain, it’s exhilarating,” Fleming observed.

“We are incredibly proud of what he has achieved. We marvel at the amount of love that he gets. It’s no surprise with what he has done with Indian cricket and with CSK with us. We are incredibly proud that he is a part of our side and is pretty much the heartbeat of the side. We thoroughly enjoy it.

“We know we are beneficiaries of the career that he has had and is having. We enjoy every minute of it.”

This IPL has seen the bat almost completely dominating the ball, but Fleming said the trend might change in the second half of the tournament with a rise in temperature.

“The sample is still relatively small. We are only getting to halfway through the tournament, what I would expect to see is with the hot conditions and the wickets being used, the scoring should slow a little bit.

“Today (Friday) was a good contest between bat and ball, it was a good even contest,” he said.

“I think people enjoy seeing a lot of fours and sixes but there is also that warning that is becoming a bit one-sided, I agree with that and that’s why I enjoy a tussle like that where there is a little bit in it for both.”

Asked to bat first, Ravindra Jadeja came up with a solid unbeaten 57 before Moeen Ali (30 off 20) and Dhoni (28 off 9) went on a six-hitting spree to take CSK to a fighting 176 for six.

In reply, skipper KL Rahul (82) and Quinton de Kock (54) batted with authority during their match-winning alliance of 134, the highest partnership for any wicket at the Ekana Stadium, as LSG scored 180 for 2 in 19 overs to recover from back-to-back loss and consolidate their position in the table.

Fleming credited LSG openers for their big partnership.

“It was a tough game. We certainly struggled to get any momentum throughout the game. To win that match, we would have had to do something similar to what they did which is to take wickets throughout but the opening stand was a match winning one,” he said.

“And we couldn’t create the pressure because they are used to the pace of the pitch and if we got wickets throughout we could have put pressure on their order here,’ Fleming concluded.

File picture of Chennai Super Kings batsman Ruturaj Gaikwad, who takes over as captain of the side
| Photo Credit: R.V. Moorthy

Chennai Super Kings has named Ruturaj Gaikwad as the new captain of the franchise ahead of the start of the 2024 IPL season.

He takes over from M.S. Dhoni, who has captained the team since the start of the IPL in 2008, save for a brief period when Ravindra Jadeja was made captain.

Also read | The lure of lucre: On the 17th edition of the IPL and beyond

A brief statement by the team confirmed the shift in captaincy, stating that 27-year-old Gaikwad has been an integral part of the team since 2019, playing 52 matches.

Speculation is rife that this season will be Dhoni’s final one as a player. In the 2023 season, the 42-year-old mostly came out to bat towards the fag end of CSK innings.

CSK began their pre-season training camp on March 2 with the first batch of CSK players landing a day before.

Run machine

Gaikwad made his IPL debut in 2020, playing six games. In 2021, he scored a whopping 635 runs for the team. He secured his place as an opener and has amassed 1,797 at an average of 39.07.

Ahead of the 2022 IPL, CSK retained him for ₹6 crore. Gaikwad also has 17 T20I appearances for the Indian national team and has played in four ODIs.

If Muthiah Muralidharan didn’t take to the cricket ground, he may have been running a biscuit factory today.

But he did; playing the sport from an early age, with dreams of becoming a fast bowler for Sri Lanka. “When I was young, I just wanted to bowl really fast,” Murali tells us, recalling growing up at a hostel at St Antony’s College, Kandy. Someone pointed out that he did not have the height for that, and so he changed track, and bowled off-spin. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Muralidharan today sits tall among all-time cricketing legends. In a career spanning from 1992 to 2010, Murali — as he is fondly called — has bagged 800 wickets, making him the leading wicket-taker of all time in international test cricket.

His biopic, set to release in October 2023, is titled 800. Starring Madhurr Mittal in the lead role and directed by MS Sripathy, it hopes to narrate not just his impressive showing in the international cricketing scene, but also his many struggles along the way.

800’s journey started due to two childhood friends from Chennai; Tamil filmmaker Venkat Prabhu and Madhimalar, now Muralidharan’s wife. “They lived in the same neighbourhood in Chennai (RA Puram). When Venkat came over for lunch, I showed him all my trophies and he suggested that my life was ideal for a biopic. I was hesitant initially, but my manager said that it would help our foundation (Foundation of Goodness, his NGO in Sri Lanka), and we went ahead.”

Tamil star Vijay Sethupathi was originally selected to play Murali, but that decision hit a roadblock when local political leaders and members of the film fraternity suggested that the actor avoids the biopic since the cricketer once made comments perceived to be in support of the war waged by Sri Lankan forces against the LTTE. Madhurr Mittal, known for his role in Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire, walked in to play the lead. “He (Madhurr) has nailed it, be it my bowling action or my body language,” quips Murali.

800 will also take us back to Murali’s childhood in Kandy, where he first took to the sport. Recalls Murali, “My school had strict rules and regulations. There was a timetable — to get up, wash our clothes and study, but the time I looked most forward to was between 3 and 5.30 in the afternoon, when we went out to play. We had a big school ground, and at that time, there would be almost 600 people playing tennis-ball cricket. I started training seriously when I was eight.” When he won the Bata Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year in 1991 — thanks to a whopping 127 wickets in 14 matches — Muralitharan was noticed by the cricketing fraternity, which led him to be picked for a tour to England.

It was an impressive career, with teams across the world fearing his vicious spin when he came to bowl, but it was not one without controversy.

On the 1995 Boxing Day Test, a much-celebrated cricketing event, Muralidharan — well known for his unorthodox bowling technique — was called out by Australian umpire Darrell Hair for what he thought was an illegal action. The months that ensued were among Muralitharan’s most trying times, something that he says has been captured in detail in 800 as well.

How does he look back at that phase? “I’ll be honest with you. We didn’t have television when I grew up, and so, I have never seen myself bowl on television. I thought I bowled pretty much like my captain, Nuwan Kalpage (Sri Lankan cricketer). The first time I saw myself bowling on TV was when I played a day-night game when I was 17; even for me, it was very different. So, I can imagine the doubts in Darrel Hair’s mind. What I was most disappointed and shocked is that he chose the Boxing Day Test to call me out and not earlier; he had watched me bowl on previous occasions. But I have no regrets; my policy in life is to forgive and forget.”

Murali also had a successful stint with the Chennai Super Kings during the IPL’s first few years. He fondly remembers the camaraderie that existed with the team then, and says that he follows the journey of CSK till date. “IPL is special for every cricketer. When the idea of IPL was announced, I was excited and really wanted to play for Chennai, as I have close links with the city and the State of Tamil Nadu. I remember the late cricketer, VB Chandrasekar, telling me that N Srinivasan’s order during the first IPL auctions was to first bid for “Dhoni and Murali.” We were the first two cricketers to be selected for CSK, and we did really well in the first few years. It was like family,” recalls the cricketer, who subsequently played for Kochi Tuskers and Royal Challengers Bangalore and is now among the coaching staff of Sunrisers Hyderabad.