This Day That Year: How Murali Vijay's Scintillating Knocks Helped CSK Win Championship in IPL 2011 Finals?

Today - May 28 - cannot be just another day for the fans of Chennai Super Kings as it was on this day 9 years ago CSK scripted history by clinching the Indian Premier League trophy for the second time in four years.

After beating Mumbai Indians in 2010 to clinch their first title victory, MS Dhoni-led CSK were entering the 2011 tournament as one of the favourites.

With 19 points from 14 matches, the Royal Challengers Bangalore captained by Daniel Vettori had topped the group stage table. CSK stood in the second position. RCB had qualified for the final for the second time in their history of IPL whereas, for CSK, it was their third big final.

Dhoni won the toss and chose to bat. “We don’t come out with set target in the minds,” he said at the toss.

Mike Hussey and Murali Vijay managed to pull out a solid 159-run opening stand for CSK before the former was dismissed for 63 runs off 45 balls. Murali Vijay went on to score 95 runs. Eventually, CSK had set an astronomical target of 206 against a Chris Gayle-fueled RCB batting line-up.

Unfortunately for RCB, Chris Gayle got out for a duck in the third ball of their innings and the rest team failed to build the much-needed pressure. Super Kings bowler Ravichandran Ashwin exhibited a phenomenal performance by picking three wickets for just 16 runs. RCB's innings came to an end at 147 runs with a loss of eight wickets.

Murali Vijay was awarded "The Man of the Match" for his incredible knocks that led the lions to another consecutive title victory.

Nine years later, CSK have won 3 titles so far and have been the Runners Up on 4 occasions. The MS Dhoni-led team has always reached the playoffs, except in 2016 and 2017, when it was suspended. Along with Mumbai Indians, CSK remains as the most followed franchise on social media.

Indian Premier League minus Chennai Super Kings has become unimaginable for many.

CSK, indeed, is not just a team but an emotion!