CHENNAI: A month or so ago, there was a whisper within Chennai's cricketing and political circles. The state government, some murmurs said, were eyeing an ambitious bid to buy Chennai Super Kings, an emotion first and a cricket team second for people in this part of the country. It was part of some water cooler talk because there were some links between the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the franchise but the latter nipped all talk.
In turn, it has long been suspected that the current owners of the franchise, whose shares have been trading in the grey market for over the last six years, were looking at a possible Initial Possible Offering (IPO). As always, the unlisted shares jumped in the week before the Indian Premier League (IPL) began. It jumped over Rs 80 to trade at Rs 325 when the 2026 season began last Saturday.
It was a lifetime high, an unusual bull run aided by the valuation of the two IPL sides sold in March.
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Late on Friday night inside the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Stephen Fleming wore a pained expression on his face. It has been an expression he has worn all too often in the last two years. This time, it was about the side's auction strategy. Two matches into a brand new campaign, when you hear the side's chief coach saying 'trust me, we went over everything', there's bound to be a problem. Or, more accurately, a couple of them.
On the face of it, one of their biggest issues right now is the identity of their bowling set-up. To be fair to the franchise, one of their designated death over operators, Nathan Ellis, picked up an injury on the eve of the IPL. They addressed that by picking Spencer Johnson, a pacer who has been injured for the last 11 months.
Replacing one injured player by picking another injured player. This betrayed Fleming's post-match assertions. They clearly didn't 'go over everything'.
There were other concerning things in the Kiwi's post-match presser. "Other tournaments around the world, it's not as frantic as this," he said. "I'm not sure how much longer it (the rule) is here for or if it's here to stay. But that certainly changes the dynamic of cricket and probably sways a little bit towards batting power."
The 'it' refers to the Impact Player here. Introduced in 2023, it's the same for all teams and most teams know they just have to get on with it because it's here to stay. Teams have packed their line-up with hitters and bashers since the 2024 season as the league has embraced an ultra-aggressive approach. But the five-time champions are still trying to shape-shift. They are learning to walk again while others are about to lap them.
Here's an example of this shift. Since the beginning of 2024, CSK are the only team to score at under 9 per over (8.95). In a format where there's a direct correlation between run-rates and success, it's no surprise that the franchise, once famed for marginal gains, is lagging. To put things in perspective, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, their opponents on Sunday, hit at an average of 10.01 per over. Extrapolate that to a match and it's a difference of over 20 runs.
That's the difference between winning or going home.
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Back in the middle 2010s, one of the earliest CSK memes was a play on their consistency. The league's other seven teams would play each other in the league phase to face Chennai in the knockouts. These days, the meme has been slightly tweaked. The league's other nine teams know Chennai is a team they ought to beat. Lads, it's Chennai.
Since 2024, the franchise have lost 19 out of 30 games. They possess the league's worst record. Post the 2024 season, when it was evident of the league's shifting sands, Chennai had the chance to redress it in the mega auction. Dhoni's powers were already waning. Ravindra Jadeja wasn't a death-overs hitter. The complexion of the Chepauk surface was beginning to change from spin heavy to run-fest. They needed a top-order hitter, somebody capable of going from ball one. And they also needed to take more punts on uncapped Indian batters.
Yet, they retained Rs 65 cr worth of players. And saw themselves bullied at the auction as the players they wanted went to sides who opted for surgery. In the end, they were left with Rachin Ravindra, Devon Conway, Rahul Tripathi and Deepak Hooda, none of whom have the power game suited to the game's modern demands.
They had also locked significant funds in 12 overs of frontline spin — Jadeja (Rs 18 cr), Noor Ahmad (Rs 10 cr) and R Ashwin (Rs 9.75 cr). In 2025, though, this troika found out that there was a world of difference between the surfaces they were promised and the strips they were given. CSK teams of the past always controlled the middle phase with their spin.
These days? There's no control. That theme continued on Friday as Rahul Chahar and Ahmad went for 74 off their eight overs.
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The Impact Player was one of the league's disruptors when it was introduced in 2023. While teams were still figuring it out, Chennai won that year on the back of what they had always done. Big runs up top, a big finish, variations with the ball and Jadeja controlling the middle phase.
But these things are cyclical. You cannot depend on a winning template from 2023 in 2026. But Fleming was again wondering if the Impact Player would go away. "So, again, you say how long is the impact player (rule going to be there)? Will all-rounders come back into the game? Or will it continue to be dashers, an aggressive batting style? I don't know. But look, I'm constantly with others looking at that and trying to stay as relevant as possible."
The thing about his relevance is worthy of discussion. They have tried everything to arrest this slide. Changed the team. Changed the captain. And now, in 2026, trying to embrace the template put in place by other teams. If the franchise's slump extends to a third season, they will have to talk around Fleming the coach. He's one of the longest serving T20 coaches ever. Because he commands the respect of the management, the players and the fans, he has earned this chance to fix a broken house. The trophies in the cabinet has given him sufficient goodwill but that goodwill will begin to erode at some point.
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Nobody knows if CSK will go the IPO way. It may be tempting for them to raise money this way. But from that lifetime high, it has already taken a beating as overly negative sentiments have meant it's now trading at `265 after back-to-back losses. MS Dhoni and Co. will still be loved by the city's hoi polloi, the ones who will keep genuflecting in the general direction of the city's biggest mass cathedral. However, the market, after a point, won't care about Dhoni or Fleming. It will be about results. Plain and simple. The logic of the market trumps sentiments or nostalgia.
