We will retain IPL Trophy : Dhoni

A hairless Mahendra Singh Dhoni, (his hair at the Lord's feet !), said that Chennai is capable of retaining the IPL crown !

Most of the players have been retained, except the greatest off spinner the world had ever seen, Muralitharan, who was bought by Kochi Tuskers !

Chennai will host Kolkotta in the inaugural match which begins at 0800 PM at the Chennai Chidambaram Stadium.

Said the formidable Indian skipper

"The new team is quite good. Like I always say, it's not about how good the team looks on paper, but it's what we do on the field that is very important. I always say that the fitness of the players is the key. Players do struggle during the course of the IPL. If all the players are available for selection, then it is a very good side. Quite a few of them will be missing due to injuries and international commitments. Once we get together, we will be very good. "The batting line-up is as good as last year - Vijay, Badri, Raina, myself and Albie. Du Pless has come in, we have the all-rounders and Mr.Cricket (Mike Hussey) will also join us. Overall, it's a very good batting line-up."

Dhoni regrets losing Murali, who is an asset to any team.

"We will miss Murali. He had great influence in the dressing room. We knew that once the auction happened, we will miss a few key players. Once people were out of our pocket, we found it difficult to hold them back. We have to start all over again, but the core team is virtually the same."

CSK owner Gurunath Meiyappan, said: "We have been very professional in the way we handled our team. This year, we have kept our core team and hope to do well. We have been one of the most consistent sides in the IPL so far. Our focus on the basics has paid us rich dividends and our brand of cricket has won us global admirers. Our team has not needed any major changes and our core group remains the same. We have tremendous faith in our boys and under our inspirational captain. We expect them to scale bigger heights."

Stephen Fleming, the coach of CSK, said: "With most of our players being in action during the ICC World Cup, lack of match practice will not be an issue. Playing the best teams in the world and in our home grounds is the best build up any player could hope for. We are quietly confident of our prospects and will play like true champions. Our core team remains the same and we look forward to another successful run in this year's tournament too."

Gulf Oil is the new sponsor of CSK. along with Aircel.