Chennai Super Kings

The Chennai Super Kings are a part of the eight club Indian Premier League. The franchise is owned by India Cements, who paid US$91 million to acquire the rights to the franchise for the next 10 years. Mr. N. Srinivasan who is the Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of India Cements Ltd., is the defacto owner of the Chennai Super Kings, by means of his position within the company. He is also the treasurer of the BCCI.
Former captain of the Indian Cricket Team, Krishnamachari Srikkanth, is the brand ambassador for the franchise, and former Indian opener V. B. Chandrasekhar is the Chief Selector. The star ambassador for the team is the Tamil film star, Vijay. Film actress Nayantara was initially appointed as a co-brand ambassador, but was later fired as she was unable to meet the commitments of regular match appearances.

2008 IPL Season
The Super Kings had a solid start to their 2008 IPL Season, winning their first 4 matches. However, their top order and bowling attack took a hit after Matthew Hayden, Michael Hussey and Jacob Oram left the team for international duty. The team's performance reflected this, as they proceeded to lose their next 3 matches. The batting, although inconsistent, eventually adjusted to the losses of Hayden and Hussey with contributions from captain M.S. Dhoni, Suresh Raina and Albie Morkel. The gap in the team’s bowling left by Oram’s departure was eventually filled by the arrival of Makhaya Ntini and Morkel (both of whom were playing the Pro20 domestic tournament in South Africa during the start of the tournament) and the emergence of Manpreet Gony. A win in the final league match against the Deccan Chargers ensured their progress into the semi-finals and eliminated the Mumbai Indians.
The team found form in the semi-finals, beating the Kings XI Punjab by 9 wickets. They then lost to Rajasthan Royals in the finals by three wickets, becoming the runners-up of the inaugural IPL tournament.

Etymology
The name "Super Kings" honours the rulers of the golden era of Tamil culture . The team logo, a Lion, was the insignia of the Pallava dynasty which ruled Southern India including the areas that constitute present day Chennai. In terms of branding, the name "Super Kings" possibly refers to 'Coromandel King super grade cement', a brand of cement promoted by the India Cements Group.
Incidentally the Chennai based team playing in the ICL (the rebel league) are called the "Chennai Superstars".

Players
Chennai Super Kings are one of the three franchises with no icon player. The lack of an icon player benefited the Super Kings during the bidding as they managed to bid successfully on two (Dhoni & Muralitharan) of the six A listed player