IPL 2019: Chennai Super Kings play with just three overseas players against RCB

At a time when most of the T20 franchises in the world are desperate to accommodate as many overseas players as possible in their playing eleven, defending champions of the IPL Chennai Super Kings came out with just three although the limit is four. The MS Dhoni-led side was up against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the first game of this season at the MA Chidambaram Stadium and sprung a big surprise by naming just three overseas players in the squad.

The Chennai-based outfit named Shane Watson, Dwayne Bravo and Imran Tahir in the team while playing leaving out the likes of Faf du Plessis, Sam Billings and David Willey. But the decision to play with just three overseas players did not hurt the Super Kings at all as they bowled out Royal Challengers for just 70 runs to kickstart their title-defence in style. Only one batsman from Bangalore – Parthiv Patel – managed to cross the double-digit mark with 29. The next top-score was just 9.

For Super Kings, veteran spinner Harbhajan Singh starred with the ball. He dismissed Virat Kohli, Moeen Ali and AB de Villiers cheaply to run through the visitors’ top-order. He finished the innings with 3 for 20 while fellow spinner Imran Tahir also impressed with the ball, taking 3 wickets for just 9 runs.

Super Kings not the first:

The Super Kings, meanwhile, are not the first team in the IPL to play with three or less overseas players in a game. The first team to do this was Rajasthan Royals, playing with three players against Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) in 2008.  Kolkata Knight Riders hold the record for playing with least number of overseas players, having played with 2 against CSK in 2011.

Here is a list showing all the instances when teams played with less than four overseas players:

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