Author : Adam Admin | Created : 2021-07-01 16:07:00
In 2021 the Chennai Super Kings won the IPL, bringing their score tally to four wins. They beat the Kolkata Knight Riders in an epic victory that now leaves them only one win behind their main rivals the Mumbai Indians. Between the two teams, they have won nine of the total fourteen IPL tournaments there have been. They are both consistently good teams and great rivals. They are now in a real battle to see who will be the best team going forward.
Mumbai and Chennai are both huge international cities in India. They are the capitals of both their states. Additionally, two of the largest film studios in India are located in each of these cities, Bollywood in Mumbai and Kollywood in Chennai. These two cities clearly have a lot more at stake than just cricket, so there is a lot to play for.
In 2008 the IPl, the Indian Premier League, an exciting Twenty20 cricket tournament, was created. Ever since its invention, it has only grown in popularity and is the most-watched Twenty20 tournament in the world, and is the second-highest paying league too. These accolade makes the IPL a great sporting event and is a much-coveted title to win.
So far there have been fourteen tournaments of which the Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians have been the most successful. The Chennai Super Kings won in the years 2010, 2011, 2018, and 2021. They were even banned for two years in 2015 and 2016 for some contention around betting rules. The Mumbai Indians are in the lead at the moment, with five IPL wins to their name in the years 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2020. So between than they have won the last five tournaments. In 2008 when the league was just created, the Rajasthan Royals were the winners of the league. Since then, there have been five other teams who have won the league. The Deccan Chargers won in 2009, but were subsequently terminated from the league because they were found to be backing out of their commitments. In 2012 and 2014, the Kolkata Knight Riders won the league and are currently in third place in terms of wins. In 2016 the Sunrisers Hyderabad won, and since then, it has been dominated by the Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings.
Each year eight teams battle it out in a double round-robin tournament styler competition, followed by the knock-out stages. The team qualifies based on the number of points they accrue in the round-robin stage and then goes on to an automatic qualifier game or the eliminator game. Needless to say, the heat is on, and it is a pretty intense league and well worth a watch
The league has been marred with controversy, with five teams being completely banned from the tournament and other teams, including the Chennai Super Kings, being suspended for a period of time. Something tells me the best is yet to come.
There is a huge rivalry between the Chennai Super Kings and the Mumbai Indians, which only serves to make the whole event much more exciting. With two class opponents at each other throats, you know when the two meet is is going to get heated. This year, 2021, the CSK won after a two-year in a row victory for the MI. Although having scored a very high run rate in the final match in the round-robin tournament, they did not have enough pint to reach the qualifiers. The last time these two met in an IPL final was in 2019, when the MI won by a mere single run, showing how evenly matched these two bitter rivals are.
The two teams have met each other on the field of battle a total of 32 times. This is both the IPL and the Champions League Twenty20, which was initiated in 2008 and ceased in 2014. Both teams won that league twice. With 32 matches between teams, this is the most times two teams have ever met each other. At the moment, the MI are currently winning the stand-off with twenty victories under their belts.
As mentioned above, these two teams have a lot riding on them. Mumbai and Chennai are two huge international cities, and the rivalry in cricket is mirrored in the rivalry between the two cities. India is still a fast-growing economy and is soon to have immense power on the world’s stage. Cricket is the most popular sport in India and is, therefore, its national sport. So, there is a lot to gain by being the best team in India from one of the biggest cities in the country, and in the world.
CSK and MI have net each other on 32 previous occasions. In Chennai nine times, in Mumbai twelve times, and at a neutral venue thirteen times. The scores are not exactly as you would expect. Although MI have won on the majority of occasions, twenty times to fourteen, they have lost five times on their own turf. CSK, though, have an even worse home record of seven losses to two. On neutral turf, though, it is more or less even with seven wins to MI and six to CSK. It seems the home advantage is not exactly an advantage. Perhaps the pressure gets to them.
Let’s have a look at some of the talent in these two rival teams:
Suresh Raina has the highest individual score and the most runs in the team. He has also scored a combined 736 runs in 32 matches when playing against the rival MI. He has a fantastic aggressive style and can hit those balls for massive sixes.
Rohit Sharma plays for India in international cricket and is a strong right-handed batsman. He has the highest total score in the MI against the CSK with 693 runs in 28 matches. He can also bowl when required, he is a right-arm off-break bowler.