Under the biggest spotlight, with the nation watching, one unstoppable knock lit up the Bullring and crowned Chennai as champions—you remember the madness, don’t you?
The DY Patil Stadium on April 25, 2010, wasn’t just lit up by floodlights. It glowed with the energy of 55,000 voices and the tension of two IPL giants—Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings—chasing their maiden crown.
On one side stood the heavyweights led by Sachin Tendulkar, riding high with ten wins from the group stage. On the other? MS Dhoni’s Super Kings—gritty, determined, and fueled by redemption after missing out in 2008.
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But when the dust settled under the Navi Mumbai sky, it wasn’t just about Dhoni or Tendulkar. It was about one man—Suresh Raina, the ‘Mr. IPL’. A man who didn’t just steady the ship; he sailed it into IPL folklore.
CSK won the toss and batted first, but their start was far from ideal. Murali Vijay played a cameo of 26 before falling, while Hayden scratched around for 17 off 31 balls—yes, 31. When Badrinath followed suit with 14, CSK found themselves at 67/3 in 11.2 overs. The run rate was limping, the crowd fidgeted, and Mumbai’s grip on the game seemed to tighten.
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However, while wickets fell around him, Raina wasn’t fazed. He didn’t swing wildly or go for broke. Instead, he got his eye in, worked the gaps, and waited for the right moment. Then, like a switch flipped, he started carving Mumbai apart.
The left-hander, batting at No. 3, turned up the heat in the last five overs. His blade sang. Yorkers became boundaries. Slower balls vanished over extra cover. With 3 fours and 3 sixes, Raina finished unbeaten on 57 off just 35 balls, striking at 162.85.
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But it wasn’t just the raw numbers. It was when he scored. CSK were crawling at under 7 runs per over when he began to take charge. By the end of 20 overs, they had posted 168/5—a total that felt like 190, given the pressure of a final.
He even chipped in with the ball to sweeten the deal, taking the key wicket of Harbhajan Singh, just for good measure.
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Mumbai Indians—so dominant all season—were expected to dominate the chase. But their script went haywire early on. Shikhar Dhawan walked back with just 1. Though Tendulkar hung around for a patient 48, the required run rate kept inching upwards.
Pollard? He smashed 27 off just 10 balls—but came in too late. The question lingered that whhy hold back your biggest hitter until the end? By the time he walked out, the match was almost out of Mumbai’s hands.
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The final nail came when Mumbai ended their innings at 146/9, falling 22 runs short. Raina’s knock, which once seemed just “important,” now looked match-defining.
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That night, CSK didn’t just lift a trophy—they launched an empire. They would go on to win again in 2011, 2018, 2021, and 2023. But the spark? It all began here.
As Raina earned the ‘Player of the Match’ award in that night, he wasn’t just celebrating a trophy but stepping into IPL immortality. In a team of stars, he became the sun around which CSK revolved.
