Former India and Chennai Super Kings batter Ambati Rayudu has said that playing at the MA Chidambaram Stadium is quite daunting and very loud and after a point, a player realises that the supporters are MS Dhoni fans and not fans of the Chennai Super Kings.
The former India cricketer feels that Dhoni’s retirement can be a tough phase for Chennai as they have not built any other cricketer to be a crowd puller for the team during IPL games.
“It will be quite challenging. Not only for the players or Chennai, but definitely for the franchise itself, because for them to [attract] crowds like that, especially even on weekdays, the stands are full, the engagement is amazing; there is no cricketer close to him, to be honest,” Rayudu said.
“They haven’t built up any other guy in the franchise to pull the crowds because it has always revolved around MS Dhoni,” Rayudu added.
Dhoni and ace India batter Virat Kohli are lauded as modern-day icons but for former India opener Navjot Singh Sidhu, the two legends are no less than institutions, whose relevance wouldn’t die down while their contemporaries fade.
This is the same feeling that has been inscribed into CSK fans for more than a decade now.
