IPL 2021: Dhoni, Fleming and the winning team culture that makes CSK a champion side

When the Chennai Super Kings didn’t qualify for the Indian Premier League playoffs last season, it would have been easy to lose the faith. They could have chopped and changed. They could have wanted to try something new. They could have gone shopping for ‘big’ players. But that is not what skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and coach Stephen Fleming did. Rather than panic, they doubled back and stayed true to their core set of beliefs.

“We’ll come back strong. That’s what we’re known for,” Dhoni had then said after CSK finished IPL 2020 with six wins in 14 games. True to his word, they have.

Comeback Super Kings: Reactions to CSK winning fourth IPL title after excellent win against KKR

As CSK win IPL 2021 for fourth title, a look at all the winners of Indian Premier League finals

Some changes were made too but the CSK side that beat the Kolkata Knight Riders in the final of IPL 2021 had all the attributes we have come to accept from Chennai over the years: calm under pressure, senior pros doing their assigned roles and youngsters coming in and playing important roles. It is a mix that has made them the most consistent side in the notoriously unpredictable format that…

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