Where they finished in 2018
They bested former champions and group-stage toppers Sunrisers Hyderabad four times in four exchanges and marked their return to the IPL with a third title.
Strengths
Thala MS Dhoni (this goes without saying). There were signs of the vintage Dhoni last season, particularly when he scythed a near yorker from Mohammed Siraj for six over point. Dhoni's incredible ball-striking prompted his coach Stephen Fleming to call it "one of the top-three shots" he has ever seen. Dhoni also unleashed his trademark bottom-hand dominated sixes over wide long-on, and smoked 252 runs off 118 balls between overs 16 and 20 in IPL 2018. No batsman scored more runs than Dhoni did at the death last season.
In addition to Dhoni, CSK have bona fide match-winners like Faf du Plessis, Dwayne Bravo, Suresh Raina, Shane Watson and David Willey, who have been there and done that at various tournaments around the world. In IPL 2018, eight different CSK players accounted for 11 Man-of-the-Match awards.
Home advantage. CSK played just one match at Chepauk in IPL 2018 and had to adjust to the quicker, bouncier track in Pune for the rest. They are back home now and have a surfeit of slow-bowling options tailor-made for the sluggish MA Chidambaram Stadium pitch. All told, they have five genuine spinners in Harbhajan Singh, Imran Tahir, Ravindra Jadeja, Mitchell Santner and Karn Sharma. Allrounders Bravo, Kedar Jadhav and Raina are also in the mix.
And expect full houses for CSK's home games. The fans began queueing up for tickets for the season opener against Royal Challengers Bangalore as early as 6am and all tickets were sold out by noon. Tickets for MS Dhoni: The Untold Story, which is re-releasing in Chennai on the morning of the CSK-RCB clash, are also selling out fast.
Weaknesses
Bravo, who has been the side's designated death bowler for a while, struggled between overs 16 and 20 last year, conceding 12.12 runs an over. Can he get his variations and lengths right this season?
Ambati Rayudu cracked 602 runs in 16 innings in IPL 2018 and forced his way back into India's ODI side, but now a key ingredient in his game has suddenly gone missing: strike rotation. In the three matches he played against Australia, he ate up 40 dots out of 59 deliveries he faced and was subsequently left out of the XI in India's last ODI series before the World Cup.
Should India's finishers Dhoni and Jadhav need some rest in the IPL in the lead-up to the World Cup, CSK don't have enough (proven) back-up options. Dhruv Shorey manned Delhi's middle order in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, but has played just one IPL game so far. And apart from Dhoni, local boy N Jagadeesan is the only Indian wicketkeeper in the roster, and he's yet to make his IPL debut.
Squad
The overseas question
CSK lost a key player - South Africa fast bowler Lungi Ngidi - to injury on Monday but they continue to be spoilt for choice in the spin department. Santner, who was central to Northern Districts' run to the final in the Super Smash T20 tournament earlier this year, could be a dark horse for CSK this season. His superior batting ability might give him the edge over Tahir. It appears like Watson, du Plessis and Bravo are certainties in the XI.
Availability
Santner is likely to the join the squad having played the last round of the Plunket Shield, which ended on March 20. If Sam Billings and Willey make England's World Cup squad, they will have to return home for a preparatory camp by the end of April. The South African duo of du Plessis and Tahir will leave the IPL by May 10 for their World Cup preparations.
The best XI
1 Shane Watson 2 Faf du Plessis 3 Suresh Raina 4 Ambati Rayudu 5 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 6 Kedar Jadhav, 7 Dwayne Bravo, 8 Deepak Chahar, 9 Mitchell Santner/Imran Tahir, 10 Harbhajan Singh/Ravindra Jadeja/Karn Sharma 11 Mohit Sharma
Head coach: Stephen Fleming, Batting coach: Michael Hussey, Bowling coach: L Balaji
Will they make the playoffs?
Count them out at your own peril, like you did last year. They are back home and have it in them to claim an unprecedented fourth IPL title.