Indian Premiere League 2023: Chennai Super Kings (CSK) has been the most fan-followed team over the years in the Indian Premier League. Since the first IPL season of 2008, The Yellow Army has been the most consistent team in the history of this cash-rich league tournament.

Apart from the 2020 and 2022 IPL seasons, CSK has made it to the top four berths of this tournament. 

In the TATA IPL 2023 season, Chennai Super Kings lost the first match against the defending champions Gujarat Titans.

That was the first game of the 16th edition which was played at Shri Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday 31st March 2023.

But Chennai Super Kings bounced back superbly at their home ground and defeated the Lucknow Super Giants side in Chepauk.

In their second game, CSK also went past the record of sharing the most century partnerships for the opening wicket.

Today in this segment we shall take a look at this record. CSK won their first home game by 12 runs due to an excellent opening stand for the first wicket.

Apart from Gaikwad and Conway, four more opening pairs of CSK share this mammoth record in the tournament’s history.

1. Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway

The Indian and New Zealand opening duo is currently the best pair of openers in the lineup of Chennai Super Kings.

They added 110 runs for the opening wicket in their second match against Lucknow Super Kings on Monday, i.e. 3rd April 2023 at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai and that allowed them to post 217 runs on board and even win that encounter. 

In such a short span, Gaikwad and Conway have become the best opening duo of the Indian Premier League.

They have been batting together since the last season of this cash-rich league tournament and now their partnership has yielded three century stands, the most by any opening pair for CSK in the history of the competition.

2. Murali Vijay and Mike Hussey

This was another awesome opening duo of the Chennai Super Kings team. Before Gaikwad and Conway, Vijay and Hussey held the record of being the most successful opening pair for CSK.

Murali and Mike were part of the playing XI when CSK won the titles in 2010 and 2011. 

CSK was the first team to defend their IPL crown in IPL history when Vijay and Hussey were their opening batters.

Mumbai Indians became the second team to achieve this similar feat in the 2020 season of the IPL.

In their IPL stint, Mike Hussey and Murali Vijay had shared two century partnerships as the Yellow Army openers.

3. Brendon McCullum and Dwayne Smith

This opening pair came after the settled pair of the above-mentioned Murai Vijay and Mike Hussey. The two overseas star batters were part of the CSK franchise in the 2014 and 2015 seasons of the IPL.

These were termed the most destructive pairs in cricketing history. The New Zealand and West Indian opening duo had shared two century stands for the Yellow Army during their stint. 

4. Faf du Plessis and Shane Watson

The veteran all-rounder from Australia, Shane Watson and the current skipper of the Royal Challengers Bangalore, Faf du Plessis were the opening batters of the CSK side when they had a disastrous season of IPL 2020 in the United Arab Emirates.

Faf and Shane had also shared two hundred run opening partnerships for CSK and one of that partnerships was a record-breaking one.

CSK chased down 179 runs against Punjab Kings' side and they were the only team to win in Dubai, that too while chasing.

5. Faf du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad

Gaikwad has been in amazing form this year of the TATA IPL 2023 season. He was the top run-getter for the yellow army last season and so far Rutu has smashed two back-to-back half-centuries this season.

Ruturaj has been mentioned again in this list and he has been paired with Faf du Plessis. These two openers were part of the 2021 season when CSK lifted their fourth trophy. Faf and Rutu have shared two-century partnerships as well for CSK.