IPL: Chennai Super Kings ready to take on

Televisionpoint.com Correspondent | Chennai
The Twenty20 Indian Premier League (IPL) season two is barely a week away, but unlike the inaugural edition last year, traffic to the MA Chidambaram stadium in Chepauk will not be jammed. The star-studded Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will gather in South Africa, ready for their first match at Cape Town on April 18.

But what of the regular Chennaiites, who donned the team's yellow jersey, hollering their support all the way to the final the last time around ? Fret not, seems to be the CSK answer. The Chennai outfit assures that arrangements will be made in time for the layman to enjoy the stadia atmosphere, which will be as close to the real thing as possible.

"We are going to make sure the interest is kept alive in the city. We are looking to sponsor one corporate T20 cricket match and are in talks with about 10 localities that have cricket clubs. And once these matches are completed, we will install big screens right in the grounds itself, and that way expect thousands of fans to come watch the CSK matches in the evenings." said a source from the Chennai Super Kings.

Apart from the fans in the city, the source added that their television, radio and mobile partners are doing their bit to have contests and fly the 'lucky winners' out to South Africa. There's also hope in the CSK office that the fan club that was launched last year will bring in greater response than what it has been so far.

"We've got such a big fan base over here, so it was surprising that the feedback wasn't as huge as we expected. But the franchise is sure that this will change," the source added.

Meanwhile, PepsiCo announced that it will organise a seven-a-side rubber ball cricket competition among seven teams from the state. The winners will play a match against the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings in South Africa. The teams will be selected from seven locations — Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Salem, Trichy, Tirupur and Tirunelveli.

Depending on the number of entries, there will also be intra-city ties to pick the champions from each centre. Each of these winning teams will take on each other before claiming the overall championship title.

VB Chandrasekhar, former India player and director of cricket operations, CSK, appreciated the initiative. "We've witnessed a T20 model of the game and now we've seven over game with seven players. It's a new concept and I'm sure the event will offer a huge scope for cricket lovers across the state," he said.