5 Indian players who were adopted by a culturally different city because of the IPL 

#1 MS Dhoni – Chennai

Mahendra Singh Dhoni is a household name in India and more so in Chennai. In Chennai, he is known as ‘Thala’ which means a leader (or King) and is also termed as the ‘Undisputed King of Chennai’. All this mainly due to the IPL.

When Chennai Super Kings (CSK) broke the bank and bought MS Dhoni in 2008, little did they know that the Ranchi-born wicketkeeper would go on to establish a connection with Chennai like no other cricketer has. Even after missing out on two years of IPL, CSK is one of the most successful IPL teams of all time. They have reached the playoffs in every season that they’ve played. They have reached the finals six times and have lifted the IPL title twice (in 2010 and 2011).

All this under the leadership of MS Dhoni. Yes, he did have a wonderful team and a core group of players year after year, but Dhoni marshalled the Chennai franchise outstandingly. In 159 IPL games, Dhoni has scored 3560 runs at an average of 37.87.

With CSK coming back to the IPL this year, Dhoni will be back in yellow leading CSK once again and re-establishing the phenomenal connect he has with the fans.