Harsha Bhogle: "You can be proud of the legacy you have left behind"

Dhoni: "Still I haven't left behind...." (laughs)

On that note, goodbye from IPL 2021.

Thank you. For your company, continued patronage, user feedback, thousands and thousands of comments. It's been another terrific season. What a success story, one that Chennai Super Kings can really be proud of. On that note, this is Shashank Kishore saying goodbye on behalf of my colleagues Himanshu Agrawal and M Venkat Raghav. Do take care of yourselves, and don't forget to join us in two days time for the T20 World Cup. Cheers!

Sourav Ganguly hands over the winners' cheque of INR 20 crore to MS Dhoni.

MS Dhoni: "Before I start talking about CSK, need to talk about KKR. Difficult to come back and do what they have, if any team deserved to win the IPL, it's KKR. Huge credit to the coaches, team and support staff. The break really helped them. Coming to CSK, we shuffled players. We had match winners coming game after game and doing really well. Every final is special, if you look at stats, we may say we're the most consistent team to lose the final too. I feel it's important to come back strong, especially in the knockouts. Frankly no chats, we don't talk a lot [meetings]. It's more one-on-one, our practice sessions are meeting sessions. The moment you get into a team room, it brings about different pressure. Our practice sessions have been good. I would love to thank the fans, wherever we've played, even when we were in South Africa, we've always had a good number of CSK fans. That is what you crave for. Thanks to all of them, it feels like we're playing in Chennai. Hopefully we'll be back in Chennai for the fans. Again I've said it before, it depends on BCCI. With two new teams coming in......we have to decide what is good for CSK. It's not about me being there in top-three or four. It's about making a strong core to ensure the franchise doesn't suffer. The core group, we have to have a hard look to see who can contribute for the next 10 years."

Stephen Fleming, the title-winning CSK coach: "We've had a number of finals, but getting across the line is a challenge you want to conquer. There was criticism about the age of our squad but it's rewarding to finish the four-year cycle with the trophy. Experience is important, guys who've been there and done it before add so much. We don't get too deep into analytics and numbers, we go with gut feel and developing relationships with players, it's old-school but it's works for us. The years tick by, we've done work over the years gone by, we've got some great memories. Very proud to have been with one franchise and have success."

Eoin Morgan after a pleasing campaign: "We are extremely proud of the fight we have shown. The character and fight is trademark. Our owners - Shahrukh, Venky have been absolutely outstanding. Guys fought incredibly hard and performed. Iyer and Gill have been outstanding. Ventakesh is new to this platform. They have been the cornerstone of our batting. Tripathi left everything out there today. Unfortunately, he picked up an injury."

Brendon McCullum, Knight Riders head coach: "We are super proud of what all the guys did. Congratulations to Super Kings, and their leaders. Just an amazing journey, and some things we can remember for a long time. When you fall at final hurdle, there is always a sense of what if. The way the guys stepped up and performed - particularly the young Indian guys. Big shout out to the owners, they give us immense support."

Shilpa: "Seeing how our female cricketers are performing so well In Oz, time for a women's IPL? Would be so great!!" --- Nothing better!

And guess what? Harshal Patel is also the Most Valuable Player of the season.

Ruturaj Gaikwad takes the Orange Cap for 635 runs, including four fifties and a century.

And Harshal Patel also wins the Purple Cap with 32 wickets this season: "Thank you very much. It has been an extremely gratifying season for me. It means a lot for personally. I am pretty happy, and the way I bowled throughout the season was very gratifying."

Harshal Patel wins the award of the Gamechanger of the Season: "Thank you everyone for nominating me. It was a great season for me, and we played some great cricket."

Ravi Bishnoi wins the award for the best catch of the season, with Deepak Chahar collecting it on his behalf: "I am really happy on winning this award. I will always remember that catch. Thank you," says Bishnoi from a recording.

Rajasthan Royals win the fair play award.

Ruturaj Gaikwad is the Emerging Player of the season for his 635 runs.

Faf du Plessis is the Player of the Match: "That was a great day. I am really grateful for today. It was also my 100th game in the IPL. I have loved my time here. I have done almost ten years here - two seasons were a bit of a break. No. 4 in the trophy cabinet is really good. Gaikwad is a special talent. Indian cricket is blessed with talent. He is getting better. He's got a super, bright future ahead of him. I have a word with him, but I don't think he needs me."

Time for the presentations

Ganesh: "Praying Dhoni don't announce his retirement. "

Raja: "Just read the pitch report by Hayden. Absolutely spot on with his prediction about par score, batting first and called it a belter."

Dheeraj: "Jadeja's fielding makes a strong case for third category of caps after purple and orange ones. These are equally match winning efforts!" --- Maybe have a yellow or a blue cap for the best fielder of the season, with the most catches or most runs saved?

Yash: "I wonder what I am going to do from tomorrow." --- Just get ready for the T20 World Cup, bleh!

Meanwhile, do check out our own MVP tab for this match. It is of little surprise to see the man leading that chart.

charan: "Uthappa was difference between the two sides. The way he neutralised spinners has let other batsmen play freely. My MOM !!!" --- Yeah, he did. But du Plessis played very well too, and batted deep to ensure his side put on a competitive total.

Prithvi: "What a year Bravo is having. CPL title, IPL title and a WT20 title would be the end of a perfect year for him."

Raghav: "2007, 2014, 2021 -all these years in the final matches (T20 world cup, IPL KKr, IPL CSK) one person in common - Uthappa ( winning with 7 years difference)."

It's time for some post-match reactions.

Ruturaj Gaikwad: "Feel on top of the moon to get the orange cap and have the winners trophy. Hard to describe in words, but amazing to win here after the season we had last year. I was part of the previous season where we didn't qualify, coming here, everyone had the belief, thankfully it happened here and I'm really happy. I didn't try to change [my game], when you're performing well and confident of your shots with lesser risks, you get the rewards. Yes, sometimes you have to make sure you're there till the end."

Deepak Chahar: "Eventful tournament, this was my fourth final, glad we won. There was dew, but in a big game, we had the experience. We needed just that one wicket and we capitalised. No point talking about the previous season, but everyone had the belief to turn it around."

Moeen Ali After a convincing win in the final: "[The first Englishman to win IPL] Feeling amazing, can't describe it. My first year, and been amazing. Gaikwad is an amazing player, and he's got no weaknesses. [About Fleming and MS] Not many changes. I could have been dropped a couple of games ago. I feel like it's such a grounded and humble team, and great to be a part of."

Ravindra Jadeja: "Feeling amazing, we've been working hard for this title. I thought the Venky Iyer catch went so high, I looked at Moeen and he was looking at me, so I knew I had go for it. That catch changed it for us. Mr DJ Bravo is going to entertain us all night. It's time for him to change his name from 'Champion' to 'Sir Champion'."

Dwayne Bravo: "Kieron Pollard, and I am catching up to him. The belief in the squad by the management - they believe in the core of the team - and after the last season, we were really disappointed. In four years, we won three titles. "Didn't get nervous. We have confidence in the entire group. A lot of players have shown good performances in different phases. Gaikwad and du Plessis were outstanding. Coming here today and getting an extra day's rest was important."

Robin Uthappa, who won the IPL with KKR, now has a title with CSK: "Extremely grateful, feels amazing to be a part of the side. After a lean season last year, it was important for us to come back. I've just wanted to come in and contribute to the team's success. We had a good start today, needed to kick on. Faf was batting well, so I just wanted to go after the bowling. I've voiced over and over again that in this team, there's secure atmosphere, lot of communication between players and support staff. I believe its the players who aren't playing in the XI that make the atmosphere within the group."

Josh Hazlewood after leading the way with the ball for Super Kings: "It's fantastic. Full credit to the guys, who have been on top. It's exciting. We've got a such a senior team, and having DJ [Bravo] has been really helpful. "A bit of downtime, and I'm straight for the World Cup. Perfect preparation really, and I am looking forward to it."

10pm After the disappointment of 2020, where they didn't make the playoffs for the first time, this has been some comeback from Chennai Super Kings. Finished in the top-two, got into the final at the first crack on the back of a Dhoni special, and here they are in the grand finale, finishing as deserving winners. What a way to celebrate Dhoni's 300th game as captain. Take a bow, CSK.

Having said that, take nothing away from the Knight Riders. They can be mighty proud of this campaign. Were nearly blown away in the first half, languishing at seventh spot when the tournament came to a halt in India. Turned up in UAE wanting to play freely, and they walked the talk quite sensationally.

Jasdev : "There's something with yellow jersey in cricket - Australia in WCs and CSK in IPLs - picking titles at will! "

They found new heroes in Venkatesh Iyer, the old dog Sunil Narine rediscovered his verve, Shivam Mavi sprung up a surprise, Varun Chakravarthy impressed, Rahul Tripathi was scintillating. And all that amounted to a magnificent comeback. Beat RCB in the eliminator, Capitals in Qualifier-2, came here needing to win a third game in five days to win the crown. Were in the game until the 10-over mark of the chase and then it went pear-shaped.

Let the party begin in Chennai!