5 Players who won the IPL title with both Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings

Since the inception of the Indian Premier League (IPL) back in 2008, two teams, Mumbai Indians (MI) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have dominated the proceedings. MI, led by Rohit Sharma, is the most successful team in the tournament’s history with four championship wins in twelve seasons. Behind them are last year’s runners-up, CSK, who have won three IPL trophies.

Given how much success the two teams have achieved in the competition, it is the dream of every budding player to become a part of either Mumbai Indians or Chennai Super Kings once in their careers. While not everyone has been able to fulfill this dream, there have been a few lucky players who have not only been a part of both the sides but they have also won the IPL with them.

Here’s a look at that the top 5 players who won the IPL title with both MI and CSK:

1. Ambati Rayudu (MI – 2013, 2015 and 2017, CSK – 2018)

Ambati Rayudu played in the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) before Mumbai Indians signed him in IPL 2010. The right-handed batsman from the southern part of the nation stayed with the Mumbai-based franchise for eight years. He won three titles with them however, his performances dipped as the seasons passed.

Rayudu featured in all 19 matches for Mumbai in 2013, scoring 265 runs with his average being 18.92. His performance improved a bit in 2015 as he ended the season with 281 runs in 15 games. In 2017, Mumbai included him in only 5 games where he scored 91 runs.

But, his fortunes changed once he joined the MS Dhoni-led as he played a very important role in his team’s journey to the title in 2018. Rayudu scored 602 runs in 16 matches for Chennai and he even registered his first IPL hundred that year.

2. Tim Southee (CSK – 2011, MI – 2017)

New Zealand’s vice captain, Tim Southee is one of the few players who won his first IPL championship in his debut season. Chennai Super Kings signed the Kiwi pacer in the 2011 IPL Auction and gave him 5 opportunities to prove himself. Although his performances were not disappointing, Chennai released him next year.

Southee picked up 4 wickets in that season for the Super Kings, with his best figures being 1/30. He had an economy rate of 8.73 while his bowling average was 41.50.

He joined Mumbai Indians in 2016 after a brief stint with Rajasthan Royals and the New Zealander won his second IPL championship with the Mumbai-based franchise one year later. Southee did not play a major role for Mumbai as he scalped only 1 wicket in the 3 matches he played.

3. Parthiv Patel (CSK – 2010, MI – 2015 and 2017)

Another player who first won a title with Chennai Super Kings and then achieved the same feat with Mumbai Indians in his IPL career is the Ahmedabad-based wicket-keeper batsman, Parthiv Patel. The left-handed opener has played for many franchises in his IPL career but he has also won 3 championships.

He started his career with the Men in Yellow and was a part of the winning squad in 2010. Patel featured in only 4 matches that year, aggregating 72 runs but his highest score was 57 runs.

The wicket-keeper batsman made a bigger impact in Mumbai Indians’ title wins as he scored 339 and 395 runs in IPL 2015 and 2017, respectively. Besides, he even took 13 catches and executed 5 stumpings during the two seasons.

4. Harbhajan Singh (MI – 2013, 2015 and 2017, CSK – 2018)

Just like Ambati Rayudu, Harbhajan Singh is a 4-time IPL winner who has won three championships with Mumbai Indians and his fourth title win came as a part of the Chennai Super Kings team in IPL 2018. Nicknamed as Bhajji, the right-arm off-spinner from Punjab starred for Mumbai Indians in IPL 2013 with 24 wickets in 19 matches.

Two years later, he picked up 18 wickets in 15 games for Mumbai but in 2017, he played a very minimal role for the franchise. He featured in 11 matches where he took only 8 wickets.

Chennai Super Kings used him to keep a check on the run flow but the off-spinner had lost his golden touch. Although Chennai won the title in 2018, Harbhajan picked up 7 wickets in 13 games while giving away runs at an economy rate of 8.48.

5. Karn Sharma (MI – 2017, CSK – 2018)

Karn Sharma achieved a unique feat in IPL history as he won the title in three consecutive seasons, albeit with three different teams. He won the championship with Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2016 and in the next two years, he won the title with Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings. The right-arm leg-spinner will play for Chennai in IPL 2020.

Talking about his numbers for Mumbai Indians in 2017, Karn played 9 matches for the Rohit Sharma-led outfit. He picked up 13 wickets for them with his best figures being 4/16.

Next year, he became a part of Chennai Super Kings and MS Dhoni included him in the playing XI for just 6 matches. Sharma took 4 wickets at an expensive economy rate of 9.36 in that season as Chennai went on to win the trophy.