The much-awaited “Southern Derby” between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) has moved from the sporting arena to the legal one, barely a few days before the IPL 2026 season opener. Sun TV Network, a Kalanithi Maran-owned company, and SRH CEO Kavya Maran have filed a notice in the Madras High Court against MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings over copyright infringement. The court case revolves around the unlicensed use of mega-star Rajinikanth’s legendary lines and background music in CSK’s new promo campaign.
Even though the two teams have been friendly rivals for a long time, the “Hukum” from the Sun Group has been very explicit: one must not even think of messing with intellectual property, especially when it comes to making money through jersey sales and merchandise.
Sun TV vs CSK: The Legal Breakdown And Quotes
The dispute began on March 1, 2026, when CSK unveiled its new jersey in a brash video on Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook. The clip, which was meant to generate excitement for the 19th edition of the IPL, allegedly contained copyrighted material from Sun Pictures’ major blockbusters, including Jailer, the forthcoming Jailer 2, and Coolie. The lawsuit says that the use of these elements was a deliberate decision to capitalise on the huge overlap between Rajinikanth’s stardom and CSK’s fan base.
“The plaintiff submits that the Defendant (CSK) officially unveiled the new jersey for IPL 2026 on 01.03.2026, offering fans a glimpse of the fresh design through a promotional video shared on social media pages, namely Instagram, X, YouTube and Facebook. The said video, to the surprise of the applicant, prominently used the audio tracks and dialogues from the Plaintiff’s films Jailer, Jailer 2 and Coolie, and further incorporated copyrighted audio elements at multiple junctures, including scenes depicting the arrival of MS Dhoni at the 1st Defendant’s camp,” the plaint filed by Sun TV Network stated.
Sun TV has sought compensation of 1 crore and a permanent ban on the use of their content. In the hearing on March 13, Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy noted that CSK has taken down the unauthorised content. Senior counsel P. S. Raman, who appeared for the franchise, gave a guarantee to the court that the team would refrain from using such tracks in the future unless they have a proper license.
Impact On CSK In IPL 2026
The courtroom drama’s grabbing headlines, but honestly, everyone’s still talking about the Chennai Super Kings. They’re chasing a historic sixth IPL title, this time with Ruturaj Gaikwad leading and MS Dhoni stepping in as the finisher. But the lawsuit? That’s thrown a wrench right into their money machine. Sun TV claims Anirudh Ravichander’s music was used sneakily to hype sales of the new 2026 match jersey, which, by the way, costs ₹2,399.
