CHENNAI: It was a heady mix of talent from different fields but with one common thread — all of them are and can be called performing artists (sports too can be one). The MA Chidambaram stadium reverberated with vibes of the music, song, dance and of course, cricket.
What happens when MS Dhoni and AR Rahman meet on a cricket field? Chaos of a beautiful kind. The two, safely can be called the masters of art — music and cricket — captivated the crowd with there mere presence. They are not the only ones though. It was nostalgia time too. The current Chennai Super Kings squad played against some of the finest have played for CSK over the last 18 years. Spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan, Matthew Hayden, Dwayne Bravo, L Balaji, S Badrinath, Suresh Raina, Parthiv Patel, Harbhajan Singh, Anirudha Srikkanth, M Vijay, M Hussey all former CSK players enthralled the fans on a balmy Sunday evening.
Bravo sang his favourite 'Champion, Champion' rendition for a while and has had the crowd on its feet. Some of the former and current stars entertained too. The theme was three boundaries in six balls. The first player to bat in the evening was CSK batting coach Mike Hussey. 'Mr cricket' as he is known proved again why he is rated highly as a batting coach. He faced CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad and cleared the ropes all six balls. Two were sixes. His technique, stance, bat swing were in perfect synchronization and looked still good enough to play competitive cricket. The highlight of the evening was World Cup hero Sanju Samson playing against the legendary Muttiah Muralitharan.
Murali, as he is affectionately known as, sporting his 800 number jersey (symbolizing his 800 wickets) was at his willy best beating Sanju a couple of times. But the surprise was reserved for Hayden who even at this age was able to clear World Cup hero Shivam Dube several times over the fence.
The fans were treated with a spectacular laser show. Thereafter, Paal Dabba and Asal Kolaaru sang to entertain the fans, till the maestro AR Rahman performed.
Popular actor Sivakarthikeyan was also present at the stadium and interacted with MS Dhoni. Rahman dedicated anbe vaa song to Suresh Raina as it was the south paw's favourite song.
Meanwhile, CSK inducted Suresh Raina, Matthew Hayden into its first-ever Hall of Fame — the first time that CSK is unveiling the Hall of Fame.
