CSK's first-ever playing XI in IPL: Where are they now?

The success of the Indian cricket team in the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup at South Africa charted ways towards BCCI’s brainchild – The IPL. The tournament has matured and evolved massively over sixteen editions making it the richest cricketing league.

The CSK franchise has been one of the most successful teams in the history of the tournament. The Men in Yellow managed to acquire top players like the T20-winning captain MS Dhoni to the hard-hitting Aussie pair of Hayden and Hussey in the inaugural season. With 5 titles in the bag (out of 14 seasons) they enter the 2024 season as defending champions.

Let’s look at CSK’s first-ever playing XI in IPL. Where are they now?

1. Parthiv Patel 

The Gujarati wicketkeeper-batsman was the first batsman of the CSK franchise to face the ruthless Brett Lee in their inaugural match in the IPL. In a battle of the Kings – CSK vs KXIP, the atmosphere was perfectly set for a mouth-watering affair. Parthiv set the stage on fire as he took on Sreesanth for three consecutive fours in the fourth over of his innings. 

The southpaw ended the first edition of the cash-rich league amassing 302 runs at a strike rate of 101.68. He wasn’t the biggest hitter of the ball, although he ended up scoring 42 fours and 3 big sixes helping CSK reach their first finals that season. 

After announcing himself as Test cricket’s youngest wicketkeeper at the age of 17, Parthiv Patel hung his armoury on December 9, 2020, at the age of 35. A couple of days later, he joined Mumbai Indians as their talent scout. He was a part of the Select Dugout as well as a Hindi commentator in IPL 2021. He currently appears as an expert on several platforms.