CSK fans go berserk during practice

CHENNAI: Seldom does one witness a turn-out of close to 10,000 spectators for a practice session in a cricket ground. However, it did happen on Wednesday at the Chepauk. While the first few days saw healthy support for CSK, who are back after two years, at the stadium, the sixth day of their practice was something extraordinary. Despite being a weekday, people turned up in droves to watch Dhoni & Co go about their preparations.
As has been the case over the past week, skipper MS Dhoni and the dynamic Dwayne Bravo turned out to be the crowd favourites on Wednesday.The Dhoni-Bravo entertained the crowd for large part of the practice sessions on most days.
Harbhajan Singh, who featured in his first practice session on the colours of CSK, raised the decibel levels as he headed for a lap along with India pacer Shardul Thakur.
Around 7pm, probably 15 minutes into the training session, three stands — A, B and C lower — were jam-packed and soon the C upper tier too was houseful. Every time MS whipped the sidearm (throw-down equipment), every time Dhoni lofted one into the stands, a roar followed suit.
Such was the frenzy, a few even managed to climb up the fence and barged onto the playing field before being taken down by the guards.
A top CSK official said that they least expected such crowds for practice sessions. “But it shows their love for CSK. We have requested for more security personnel from tomorrow to ensure things are in control,” said the official.