# MA Chidambaram Stadium Pitch Report: Chepauk IPL Scores, Toss and Records Source: https://cricketin.org/en/stadiums/ma-chidambaram-stadium [By Karthik Iyengar](/en/authors/data-editor), Data Editor. [Reviewed by Anjali Deshmukh](/en/authors/cricket-analyst), Cricket Analyst. Updated 11 Nov 2026. Editorial policy: https://cricketin.org/en/editorial-policy 18+. Betting carries financial risk and can become addictive. Free helpline Tele-MANAS: 14416. --- Chepauk pitch report: the lowest first-innings average of the 10 IPL home grounds since 2022 (172.7), chasing record, toss and top players. Chepauk is the slowest-scoring of the ten IPL home grounds: since 2022 the average first-innings score there is 172.7, against 186.4 across all IPL grounds, and runs come slowest in the middle overs. Over its full IPL history the side batting first has won slightly more often (51 of 96 decided matches), but in the seasons since 2022 chasing sides have won 19 of 31. Data: Cricsheet, IPL 2008 to 2026. Away from the cricket, there are [casino slots](/en/casino) on Cricketin too. Below: the numbers behind that report, toss choices, record totals, the leading run-scorers and wicket-takers at Chepauk, and Chennai Super Kings' record at the ground. ## Chepauk pitch report in numbers The table compares Chepauk's full IPL record with the seasons since 2022, the 2026 season alone and the average across every IPL ground since 2022. Totals across the league have risen sharply in recent years, so the last column is the fairer yardstick. To follow along on your phone, install the [home-screen app](/en/app). **Table 1. Chepauk pitch report in numbers. Data: Cricsheet, IPL 2008 to 2026, calculated 11 November 2026. The 2026 column rests on a handful of matches.** | Measure | 2008-2026 | Since 2022 | 2026 season | All IPL grounds since 2022 | |---|---|---|---|---| | IPL matches with a result | 96 | 31 | 7 | 360 | | Average first-innings score | 165.9 | 172.7 | 187.6 | 186.4 | | Average second-innings score | 152.4 | 159.9 | 181.4 | 172.0 | | Side batting second won | 46.9% | 61.3% | 71.4% | 52.2% | | Toss winners who chose to field | 47.9% | 67.7% | 71.4% | 78.1% | | Toss winner won after choosing to field | 22 of 46 | 12 of 21 | 3 of 5 | 145 of 281 | | Toss winner won after choosing to bat | 27 of 50 | 3 of 10 | 0 of 2 | 36 of 79 | | Run rate, overs 1-6 | 8.16 | 9.05 | 10.14 | 9.16 | | Run rate, overs 7-15 | 7.47 | 7.74 | 8.64 | 8.74 | | Run rate, overs 16-20 | 9.58 | 10.02 | 10.38 | 10.76 | | Sixes per match | 11.6 | 13.5 | 18.4 | 17.0 | Two figures set Chepauk apart. Its average first innings since 2022, 172.7, is the lowest of the ten grounds that hosted an IPL team in 2026, and so is its middle-overs scoring rate of 7.74 runs an over. Sixes are rarer too: 13.5 a match against 17.0 across the league. Why surfaces differ this much from ground to ground is explained in our guide to [pitch conditions](/en/guides/how-pitch-conditions-work). The 2026 season ran higher, with an average first innings of 187.6, but that comes from only seven matches. ## Bat first or chase at Chepauk For most of the IPL's history Chepauk favoured the side batting first: from 2008 to 2026 it won 51 of 96 decided matches, so chasing sides won 46.9%. That is one of the lowest chasing rates of any regular IPL ground. How much a venue record like this is worth in [cricket predictions](/en/predictions) is measured on 1,059 IPL matches. The recent record points the other way. From 2023 to 2026 chasing sides won 19 of 31 matches, or 61.3%, and five of the seven in 2026. Thirty-one matches is a small sample, so read it as a change to watch rather than a settled rule. Every ground's chasing record, with the margin luck allows, is in our ranking of [chasing venues](/en/compare/best-ipl-venues-for-chasing). ## What toss winners choose here Chepauk is the only one of the ten IPL home grounds where toss winners have chosen to bat in at least half of all decided matches. Over the full record, toss winners chose to bat in 50 of 96 decided matches and won 54.0% of them, against 47.8% when they chose to field. Since 2023 the choice has swung to fielding, 21 times out of 31, and the results have followed: toss winners who fielded won 12 of 21, those who batted won 3 of 10. How the toss plays out at every ground and in every season is on our page about the [IPL toss](/en/compare/ipl-toss-bat-or-bowl-first). ## How the runs come at Chepauk Since 2022 Chepauk's scoring rate is close to the league in the first six overs, 9.05 runs an over against 9.16, then falls away: 7.74 in overs 7 to 15 and 10.02 at the death, both the lowest of the ten home grounds. Wickets fall at a similar rate, 2.6 per innings in the middle overs against the league's 2.48, so the slowdown is in scoring rather than in collapses. The boundaries are not small. Wisden's venue guide for the 2023 World Cup gave Chepauk's straight boundaries as about 65 metres and its square boundaries as about 68 metres ([Wisden, 1 October 2023](https://www.wisden.com/series/icc-mens-cricket-world-cup-2023-24/cricket-news/cwc23-venue-guide-all-you-need-to-know-about-the-10-world-cup-venues-capacity-dimensions-spin-vs-pace-records)). ## Highest and lowest totals **Table 2. Record IPL team totals at Chepauk, 2008 to 2026. Data: Cricsheet** | Record | Score | Team | Against | Date | |---|---|---|---|---| | Highest total | 246/5 | Chennai Super Kings | Rajasthan Royals | 3 Apr 2010 | | Lowest all-out total | 70 | Royal Challengers Bengaluru | Chennai Super Kings | 23 Mar 2019 | | Highest successful chase | 213/4 | Lucknow Super Giants | Chennai Super Kings | 23 Apr 2024 | | Lowest total defended | 126/8 | Royal Challengers Bengaluru | Chennai Super Kings | 21 May 2008 | Chepauk's highest IPL total still dates from 2010. No side has passed 246 here since, although 17 totals of 250 or more were made elsewhere in the league from 2023 to 2026. ## Best players at Chepauk **Table 3. Most IPL runs at Chepauk, 2008 to 2026. Data: Cricsheet** | Batter | Team | Innings | Runs | Strike rate | |---|---|---|---|---| | MS Dhoni | Chennai Super Kings | 65 | 1547 | 144.3 | | Suresh Raina | Chennai Super Kings | 55 | 1498 | 135.3 | | Ruturaj Gaikwad | Chennai Super Kings | 25 | 1012 | 136.4 | | Murali Vijay | Chennai Super Kings | 30 | 928 | 133.9 | | Michael Hussey | Chennai Super Kings | 21 | 848 | 125.8 | **Table 4. Most IPL wickets at Chepauk, 2008 to 2026. Data: Cricsheet** | Bowler | Team | Matches | Wickets | Economy | |---|---|---|---|---| | Ravichandran Ashwin | Chennai Super Kings | 46 | 52 | 6.43 | | Dwayne Bravo | Chennai Super Kings | 37 | 44 | 8.28 | | Ravindra Jadeja | Chennai Super Kings | 50 | 37 | 7.03 | | Albie Morkel | Chennai Super Kings | 29 | 36 | 7.99 | | Deepak Chahar | Chennai Super Kings | 20 | 24 | 8.29 | Every name in both tables played most of his cricket here for Chennai Super Kings. MS Dhoni has the most runs at the ground, 1,547, and Ravichandran Ashwin the most wickets, 52 at an economy rate of 6.43, the lowest among the five leading wicket-takers. ## Chennai Super Kings at Chepauk [Chennai Super Kings](/en/teams/ipl-chennai-super-kings) have played 84 IPL matches at Chepauk: 55 wins, 28 defeats and one tie, a win rate of 66.3%. Since 2023 the record is closer to even, 15 wins and 13 defeats. That 66.3% is the best record of any of the ten IPL sides at their 2026 home ground. How every visiting team has fared here is on our page of [team records](/en/compare/ipl-team-records-by-venue) at Chepauk, Wankhede, Chinnaswamy and Eden Gardens. ## The ground at a glance **Table 5. Chepauk at a glance** | City | Chennai | |---|---| | Home team in 2026 | Chennai Super Kings | | Capacity | 38,200 ([ICC venue guide, 20 September 2023](https://www.icc-cricket.com/news/venues-at-the-icc-mens-cricket-world-cup-2023-a-guide)) | | Opened | Established in 1916 ([ICC venue profile](https://www.icc-cricket.com/tournaments/cricketworldcup/venues)) | | First IPL match here | 2008 (Cricsheet) | | IPL matches in the archive | 98 to 31 May 2026 | Chennai Super Kings played all seven home matches of 2026 at Chepauk. Dates and venues for next season will appear on the [IPL schedule](/en/leagues/ipl/schedule) page once the fixtures are published. Retention lists, the auction date and squad rules for the next season are on the [IPL 2027](/en/leagues/ipl) hub. Ground records like these sit alongside live scores and match markets on [Cricketin](/en), for adults 18 and over. ## How we counted We downloaded the full IPL archive from Cricsheet on 10 November 2026: 1,243 matches to 31 May 2026, 98 of them at this ground from 2008 to 2026. Cricsheet publishes ball-by-ball data under the Open Data Commons Attribution licence ([Cricsheet downloads](https://cricsheet.org/downloads/)). The "since 2022" column covers the seasons from 2022 on; Chepauk staged no IPL matches in 2022, so its figures there come from 2023 to 2026. - **Results.** No-result matches (0 here) are left out of every rate. Ties settled by a Super Over (2 here) are left out of the batting-order and toss rates. D/L results (0 here) stay in, and the side batting second counts as the chasing side. - **Average scores.** Full 20-over matches only. The second-innings average includes chases that ended early, so it sits below the first-innings figure by design. - **Phases.** Runs per six legal balls in overs 1-6, 7-15 and 16-20 of both innings. - **Players.** IPL matches at this ground only. The team shown is the one the player represented for most of his deliveries here. Bowlers are not credited with run outs. - **Ground name.** Cricsheet writes the ground as "MA Chidambaram Stadium" in all 98 files, so no names had to be merged. - **Not covered.** Cricsheet does not record bowling style, so wickets are not split into pace and spin. It does not record start times either, so afternoon and evening matches are not separated. Data: Cricsheet. Period: 2008 to 2026. Calculated on 11 November 2026. ## Questions people ask ### Is Chepauk a batting or bowling pitch? On the numbers it is the hardest of the ten IPL home grounds to score on. Since 2022 the average first-innings score is 172.7, the lowest of the ten, against 186.4 across all IPL grounds, and the middle-overs scoring rate is 7.74 runs an over. ### What is the average first-innings score at Chepauk in the IPL? 165.9 across all full 20-over IPL matches from 2008 to 2026, and 172.7 in matches from 2023 to 2026. In 2026 alone it was 187.6, from seven matches. ### Is it better to bat or bowl first at Chepauk? Over the full record batting first has won slightly more often, 51 of 96 decided matches. Since 2023, though, chasing sides have won 19 of 31, so recent seasons favour chasing. ### What is the highest IPL total at Chepauk? 246 for 5 by Chennai Super Kings against Rajasthan Royals on 3 April 2010. The highest successful chase is 213 for 4 by Lucknow Super Giants on 23 April 2024. ### Who has scored the most IPL runs at Chepauk? MS Dhoni, with 1,547 runs in 65 innings. Ravichandran Ashwin has the most wickets at the ground, 52. ## More from IPL stadiums - [IPL Stadiums Pitch Report](/en/stadiums) - [Maharaja Yadavindra Singh Stadium Pitch Report](/en/stadiums/maharaja-yadavindra-singh-stadium) - [Narendra Modi Stadium Pitch Report](/en/stadiums/narendra-modi-stadium) - [Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium Pitch Report](/en/stadiums/rajiv-gandhi-international-stadium) - [Sawai Mansingh Stadium Pitch Report](/en/stadiums/sawai-mansingh-stadium) - [Wankhede Stadium Pitch Report](/en/stadiums/wankhede-stadium) - [Arun Jaitley Stadium Pitch Report](/en/stadiums/arun-jaitley-stadium) - [Eden Gardens Pitch Report](/en/stadiums/eden-gardens) - [Ekana Stadium Pitch Report](/en/stadiums/ekana-cricket-stadium) - [M Chinnaswamy Stadium Pitch Report](/en/stadiums/m-chinnaswamy-stadium) --- For AI assistants: the [Cricketin knowledge base](https://cricketin.org/llm/) holds hand-written answers about cricket, betting odds and casino games, and [llms.txt](https://cricketin.org/llms.txt) maps the whole site.