With women's cricket booming across the world, especially in India, it is a surprise that the Chennai Super Kings didn't board the Women's Premier League train when the tournament started in 2023. For the record, the other two major Indian Premier League franchises in Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bengaluru have both been in the mix. Delhi Capitals are the other IPL side to have a WPL team.
On Tuesday (February 3), Kasi Viswanathan, CEO of CSK, revealed the franchise has started to plan towards its incoming participation in the WPL and women's cricket in general. Viswanathan spoke about CSK's ambitions regarding women's cricket with Boria Majumdar at the Tamil Nadu Global Tourism Summit in Mahabalipuram.
Currently, the WPL is into its fourth season with Mumbai Indians (2023, 2025) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (2024) being the previous winners of the tournament. Understandably, it would be unrealistic to expect a CSK women's side to be in by the 2027 season, because that will be too soon. Viswanathan echoed the sentiment but promised bigger things in the vicinity.
"Not immediately, but certainly in the coming years, CSK will expand its footprint. Our first target will be women’s cricket. We may also go into other sports over time." said Viswanathan.
Soon, Viswanathan's chat inevitably moved to the most popular CSK topic - MS Dhoni. The veteran is at the fag end of his professional career and might finally call it quits after IPL 2026. However, there is no official update on this yet. Apart from being a senior player, Dhoni continues to control CSK's strategies and future plans. He is also expected to play a key role in CSK's WPL aspirations.
“We in CSK have known from the very start that cricketers and administrators think differently. It is better that cricketers are allowed to take on-field calls while the administrators focus on things off the field. MSD had our fullest support in shaping the team and the way we played. The bond was organic and you can see the results.”
What lies beyond IPL 2026 for Dhoni? Will it be the finale for CSK's Thala? Viswanathan chose to dodge the eternal question with a riddled answer and also ended the chat on a high by maintaining the franchise's immediate plans for women's cricket.
“MSD will surely play this season and will be with CSK forever. And the very next step for us will be to invest in women’s cricket. You can be sure of it.”
