CSK playing 11 from Faf du Plessis' IPL debut in 2012 - where are they now?
Faf du Plessis turns 40 today. A towering cricketer, he'd be remembered for his stunning batting stance, his leadership qualities for South Africa, his partnerships with AB de Villiers, a brilliant Test career with so many memorable performances home and away and his warm kisses and hugs for his players.
Some, especially those who have watched him since he broke through the ranks to make his South Africa debut and play a few years as a handy all-rounder, would remember him more for his sheer longetivity. His ability to keep re-inventing himself and stay useful even in the cut-throat competition of T20 leagues has been simply extraordinary.
To put that into context, below are all the players who were a part of the playing 11 when he made his IPL debut for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) against Mumbai Indians (MI) in 2012 and revisit where they are now. Spoiler alert: None of them is captaining a T20 franchise anymore, let alone multiple franchises.
Openers: Faf du Plessis and Murali Vijay
Du Plessis scored just 3 (2) in that match. He looked tentative and poked the fourth ball of the Lasith Malinga over to covers to set off for a quick single, only to see Ambati Rayudu run in and do a sharp pick-up and throw at the non-striker's end to catch him short. He, of course, is now captaining Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), is away from the national team and is scoring tons of runs for franchises around the world even at 40.
He opened with a long-time CSK servant Murali Vijay. The stylish opener went through quite an atypical 17 balls to score just 10 runs before getting out trying to compenstate. Vijay announced his return from all forms of cricket in January 2023. He did golf for a while and was seen in legend leagues but has now transitioned to commentry and broadcasting.
Middle order: Suresh Raina, DJ Bravo, Albie Morkel, S. Badrinath
Looking back, this seems like such a bowling-focussed batting order. It already has three players capable of bowling four overs each and we are not even at number seven. Suresh Raina came at three for CSK for ages and one of the best to ever do it. In this game, he was also CSK's best batter, scoring 36 (26). After retiring in 2022, he works as a commentator and pundit too.
Another IPL legend DJ Bravo came at number four in this game for a run-a-ball 19. He has retired from international cricket but continues to play league games occassionally, with the most recent one being in July.
Other than that, he's CSK's bowling coach, having already built an image of a brilliant man-manager and played a big role in Afghanistan's success at the 2024 T20 World Cup as a consultant.
All-rounder Albie Morkel and talented local batter S. Badrinath were important, underrated cogs in CSK's success over the years, though neither could show that in this game.
Morkel retired in 2019 and has taken many coaching stints since then. Currently he works as an assistant coach with the New York Strikers in Abu Dhabi T10 and Texas Super Kings in the Major League Cricket. Badrinath, meanwhile, is a broadcaster, commentator and coaches sometimes too.
Lower Order: MS Dhoni (C/WK), Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin
This is where the CSK engine room lied. However, skipper MS Dhoni and Ravichandran Ashwin added to the list of cheap run-outs in this game while Ravindra Jadeja dragged one against Malinga back to his stumps. All three of them are still playing.
Dhoni has retired from international cricket but is yet to make a public call on whether he'll play IPL 2025 or not. Jadeja recently called time on his T20I career but remains a key part of CSK. Ashwin is still India's best Test bowler and a senior player at the Rajasthan Royals.
Bowlers: Shadab Jakati and Doug Bollinger
Left-arm spinner Shadab Jakati was one of those 'out of nowhere' picks for CSK in their early years. The Goa veteran was hardly renowned but took IPL by storm, taking tons of wickets in the middle-overs for the franchise with his turn and guile. He also featured for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru and the Gujarat Lions before retiring in 2019. Now, he regularly features in veteran and legend leagues.
A bit like Jakati, Doug Bollinger would remain the "streets won't forget" players for a lot of early CSK fans. The Australian was an excellent worhorse quick who used to make things happen for CSK. Even in this match, he got Rohit Sharma out for a three-ball duck.
He couldn't emulate similar success for a long time in international cricket and retired in 2018. After almost disappearing for a while, he worked as a pundit last year.