A new shade at CSK: Rupa Gurunath's quiet takeover

The Chennai Super Kings delegation trooped out of a meeting room in Abu Dhabi wearing light green T-shirts, a shift from the familiar yellow seen at IPL auctions.

Leading the group was Rupa Gurunath, the franchise's new boss. Appointed whole-time director last August, the scion of N Srinivasan has emerged as the de facto head. Srinivasan remains chairman, but for all practical purposes, Rupa now runs CSKCL.

When asked if the color change was her doing, she laughed it off. "Kasi is still in charge," she said, pointing to CEO KS Viswanathan. She clarified this wasn't her first auction, having attended the SA20 auction in Johannesburg in September.

In Abu Dhabi, she did not take center stage at the auction table, choosing a seat on the sidelines instead.

While MS Dhoni remains the public face, Rupa has become its administrative head. She is now a regular presence at IPL post-match presentations and oversees CSK's day-to-day operations from a building in Chennai's Besant Nagar.

A source notes, "Cricket and CSK are their primary business—the only business for now." The family has exited the cement business and is focused almost entirely on cricket.

The group owns three teams worldwide: CSK, the Joburg Super Kings in South Africa's SA20, and the Texas Super Kings in Major League Cricket.

To support these franchises, Rupa has ordered the creation of a global academy network. CSK currently runs 43 academies worldwide—10 in the U.S. and around 30 across India. Discussions are underway to start coaching centers in Singapore, the UK, and Australia.

Closer to home, CSK has developed a facility on a 15-acre plot in Chennai's OMR region for annual practice sessions. Insiders say Rupa was instrumental in installing floodlights there.

"Rupa is very serious about cricket, very hands-on too," says a CSK insider. "She has been associated with the team for 10 years." She held discussions with MS Dhoni, skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad, coach Stephan Fleming, and Viswanathan ahead of the auction, arriving in the UAE two days prior.

Rupa, 52, holds a Master's in Business Administration. She served as a whole-time director of India Cements Limited before its sale and was the first woman president of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association, elected in 2019.

She is also involved in cricketing decisions. The high-profile Ravindra Jadeja-Sanju Samson trade is said to have been her initiative, though it's unclear if Srinivasan was entirely comfortable with the move.

Sources say Rupa, who lives a street away from Srinivasan, meets him two to three times a week to keep him updated. That is how Srinivasan prefers it—and how Rupa is establishing herself as the lady boss of CSK.