The evolution of CSK as a brand

If there is one individual who could talk about CSK’s progress, apart from the team management, he is VB Chandrasekhar, the selector of the Chennai team when it was formed 10 years ago. “I don’t know whether to call myself the selector or mentor,” says VB. 

“We were a bunch of everyone wearing many hats. So I was not just looking at the players for the franchise, I was doing their stay and many other things, like finding the name for the team and the slogan,” adds Chandrasekhar. The name Chennai Super Kings itself was not appealing initially, but Chandrasekhar feels with the passage of time CSK caught the imagination of the public. 

“It was an awkward name (Chennai Super Kings), but a lot of things helped in making CSK a big name,” recalls VB, who had played a few One-Day Internationals for India in the late 1980s and was considered a swashbuckling opening batsman. One of the main factors that shaped the growth of the brand is the trust that the team management showed in the decision makers. “At that time, N Srinivasan made it clear that with regard to the team, I would take the final call,” recounts a satisfied VB. The money bag was not big like it is today and VB and the team had to be cautious in selecting the cricketers. 

“It was only five million dollars then and a good part of that (1.5 million) was spent on the captain,” says VB. 

“Then there was Muttiah Muralitharan, who, we felt, should be there for the kind of four overs, 17 runs, one or two wickets final figures he would guarantee us. In fact, Rajasthan (Royals) went after him and tried to deplete our resources.” 

Overall, it was a memorable experience for Chandrasekhar, who had just served as a selector for the national team before the IPL started. Among the little things that he remembers are getting Suresh Raina as a player (a lot of people had not even heard of him then), R Ashwin coming into the team though he was not part of the auction and L Balaji coming out of an injury. Beneath all this, VB is proud to say that CSK never believed in making too many changes, be it in the start or even now. 

“CSK never believed in making sweeping changes. Replacements were only for the specific positions,” he avers. 

He does not think T20 is crude cricket. He likes innovative shots in cricket but he feels it should not be at the expense of grace. “De Villiers plays some fantastic shots, but he is like a machine. I think Rohit Sharma is power and touch combined,” VB concludes.