Chennai Super Kings have come to define the Indian Premier League, arguably as much as Mumbai Indians.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni's laid-back style of leadership, and the franchise's penchant for banking almost exclusively on 30-year-old T20 veterans, is in stark contrast to the format's characteristic. But Chennai have solid results to back this strategy - they have won the IPL four times and finished runners-up five times since the tournament started in 2008.
Chennai are known to give the players they pick a long rope and expect them to do much of the problem solving on the pitch rather than in team meetings.
That has made Chennai an attractive team for players who want to take their game to the next level. As South African veteran Faf du Plessis said a couple of years back: "There are a lot of thinking cricketers in the dressing room."
The players are also well compensated for being part of a glorious franchise like Chennai. Here are the highest paid cricketers at Super Kings.
Top 10 highest earning players at Chennai Super Kings:
1. Ben Stokes - 162.5 million rupees ($1.96m)
2. Ravindra Jadeja - 160m rupees ($1.93m)
3. Deepak Chahar - 140m rupees ($1.7m)
4. MS Dhoni - 120m rupees ($1.45m)
5. Moeen Ali - 80m rupees ($970,000)
6. Ambati Rayudu - 67.5m rupees ($810,000)
7. Ruturaj Gaikwad - 60m rupees ($720,000)
8. Shivam Dube - 40m rupees ($480,000)
9. Mitchell Santner - 19m rupees ($220,000)
10. Rajvardhan Hangargekar - 15m rupees ($180,000)
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England all-rounder Sam Curran will be the top earning player in IPL 2023 with a salary of 185 million rupees ($2.26m) playing for Punjab Kings. PA -
Australia's Cameron Green will earn 175m rupees ($2.14m) playing for Mumbai Indians in IPL 2023. AFP -
KL Rahul (Lucknow Super Giants): 170m rupees ($2m). Sportzpics for IPL -
Ben Stokes (Chennai Super Kings): 162.5m rupees ($1.98m). AFP -
Nicholas Pooran (Lucknow Super Giants): 160m rupees ($1.95m). AP -
Ravindra Jadeja (Chennai Super Kings): 160m rupees ($1.95m). Sportzpics for IPL -
Rishabh Pant (unavailable, Delhi Capitals): 160m rupees ($1.95m). Sportzpics for IPL -
Andre Russell (Kolkata Knight Riders): 160m rupees ($1.95m). Sportzpics for IPL -
Rohit Sharma (Mumbai Indians): 160m rupees ($1.95m). Sportzpics for IPL -
Ishan Kishan (Mumbai Indians): 152.5m rupees ($1.86m). Sportzpics for BCCI
