Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians are two of the most prolific teams in Indian Premier League history. The two teams have won eight championships between them. When it comes to the IPL, they are both arch-rivals. The competition between CSK and MI is known as the IPL’s El Clásico. MI, headed by Rohit Sharma, are the tournament’s most successful team, having won five championships. CSK, led by MS Dhoni, are chasing them with three IPL titles to their name. Any player’s ambition is to compete in the tournament for either MI or CSK.
While not everyone is provided with the chance to play on both sides, several players have represented both. We’ll take a look at a few Australian players who have been a part of both CSK and MI.
1. Michael Hussey
Mr Cricket, Michael Hussey, is one of the IPL’s most underappreciated players and one of the few Australians to have represented both the Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings. He began his IPL stint for CSK with an incredible knock of 116 off just 54 deliveries against Punjab Kings (then Kings XI Punjab) and that too in CSK’s first-ever match in 2008. He was a standout performer and played a crucial role to help CSK win the title in 2010 and 2011. He scored 1768 runs at an average of 42.10 in 50 matches for CSK. Hussey has a century under his belt for the men in yellow. In IPL 2013, Hussey smashed 733 runs at an average of 52.36 to bag the Orange Cap.
He was signed by Mumbai Indians in the 2014 mega auction. He didn’t perform as per his standards as he played nine games scoring 209 runs at an average of just 23.22. In 2015, he returned to CSK, but only for four games, and soon retired after that. Currently, he serves as a batting coach for Chennai Super Kings.
2. Josh Hazlewood
Josh Hazlewood was a part of the Mumbai Indians squad in the 7th edition of the IPL. After sitting on the bench for the whole season in 2014, Hazlewood was retained by MI for the 2015 IPL season. However, fate had no plans for him as the pacer withdrew from the tournament to handle his workload ahead of the Ashes later that year.
Later, in the IPL 2020 Auction, Hazlewood was secured by Chennai Super Kings for Rs 2 Crore. Unfortunately, he only featured in three games where he picked up a single wicket at an economy of 6.4. He pulled out of the IPL 2021 season due to Covid-19 concerns and was replaced by another Australian pacer, Jason Behrendorff.
3. Jason Behrendorff
The left-arm pacer, Jason Behrendorff was picked up by Mumbai Indians for the IPL 2019 season. He only played in five matches where he picked up 5 wickets at an economy of 8.68. Although he didn’t get much game time, Behrendorff would be still happy that he has an IPL title to his name. In the 2020 IPL he was retained by MI, but he had to pull out of the competition owing to a back injury.
He was signed in as a replacement for Josh Hazlewood in the Chennai Super Kings side for the IPL 2021 season.
4. Ben Hilfenhaus
Ben Hilfenhaus was one of the crucial pacers in the Chennai Super Kings squad. He was one of MS Dhoni’s go-to bowlers when he was a part of CSK. Hilfenhaus played for Chennai in the 2012 and 2014 seasons. In 17 games for CSK, he has grabbed 22 wickets at an economy of just 7.73.
He was roped in by Mumbai Indians for the 2015 IPL season as a replacement for Aaron Finch. Even though he didn’t feature in any of the matches for Mumbai Indians, he has an IPL title to his name.
