CHENNAI: On Friday, a vociferous gaggle at the MA Chidambaram Stadium was hell bent on getting behind solely one man. Even his pads seemed to be singling him out as the chosen one; gold, as compared to the yellow that was covering his comrades’ legs.
“Dhoni, Dhoni, Dhoni,” could be heard even at the main entrance, punctuated by guttural roars, irrespective of whether the Chennai Super Kings skipper had howitzered a white ball towards their gallery or had just swiped up a bat-full of air. Their hero had been there the day before — the start of the Men in Yellow’s practice camp — but they hadn’t known that. They did today. They were ready to see them get ready.
Dhoni too had in his way reflected the seriousness that these aficionados were exuding for the return of their Kings. The franchise had given the veteran stumper the option of arriving a few days later for this camp. He chose otherwise.
Harbhajan Singh and Kedar Jadhav — pivotal men for the Super Kings — may have given proceedings at Chepauk a miss (all members had to shoot the team’s anthem on the same day), but Dhoni was there. The “Son of the soil” was as committed to the cause as the fans who had thrust this moniker upon him.
Like Dhoni, his lieutenant was there; Suresh Raina looked mentally steeled for the days ahead. There were attempts to polish his dinks over the infield, as well as the full-blooded slogs which were pouched by those perched in the stand open for public.
A camaraderie that had vanished three years ago — one also cut short in the bluer scheme of things due to the southpaw not registering a blip on the national radar for a prolonged period — seemed to have been rekindled.
There were verbal exchanges; ostensibly mental notes being traded for the days that lie in store. Even bats were shared. Ravindra Jadeja and Ambati Rayudu were tonking the holy bejesus out of the deliveries being hurled at them in the adjacent nets, and these two meted out the same treatment to Karn Sharma and his coterie of net bowlers (not so much against the pacers, though), one standing behind while the other went into marauding mode.
It wasn’t just the faces of the team who were displaying that they meant business; some of the behind-the-scenes men too did the same. Both N Srinivasan and team CEO Kasi Viswanathan made their presence felt, involving themselves in a conversation with Dhoni before practice. The Super Kings’ preparations had indeed gained momentum.
rahul.ravi@newindianexpress.com