Lion is in the Den: Time to Roar

Saed Anwar's 194,India's record chase against England,Thriller between the rivals in 99, list goes on. Chepauk is flourished by huge history. The Chepauk crowd always appreciated cricket, especially the spirit in which the game was played. That is why the crowd gave Pakistan a standing ovation in 99,after the crackerjack of a Test that Pakistan seized with its last gasp. The Audience always had the the knowledge and were even ready to appreciate the opponents. A generous portion of the magic that resides within storied sporting encounters is churned out by the venues that host them.We can easily relate those words by Arun Vengopal with Chepauk. Sporting Crowd reputation is one which keeps Chepauk apart. This made Chennai Super Kings, the most popular team in IPL from 2008 to 2015. The most dominated IPL franchise then, played the major role in determining the 'Outcomes' of IPL from 2008 to 2015.

Chepauk is already in the verge of excitement, as the Yellow Lions announced their arrival. They are ready to welcome them in 2018. But today they won't bleed in Yellow, but in Blue, as the King of the Super Kings & his mates are ready to take Aussie Challenge. Even though in the Past, this ground was famous for Gavaskar's Tests or Sachin's Tests, today and mostly tomorrow the Chepauk will be famous for only one man;- the Super King himself, Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Gavaskar's 1018 runs at an average of  59.88 & Sachin's average of 88.18 and 5 Hundreds, everything will be remembered, but only behind MS. His presence is enough for the Tamilians. We witnessed the Craze for MSD and CSK in this year's TNPL, when he hitted 3 sixes in a row at

Chepauk. Most Runs in the Chepauk One-Dayers, The double hundred in single day,last but least The 8 IPL seasons, which made others vote him as 'The King of IPL' in this decade.

Being little superstitious we can say Dhoni's first venture was always a failure. His First Love, His first Innings in ODI, his first World Cup. His first International game at Chepauk also had the same story. The 3rd ODI against South Africa in 2005 was abandoned without a ball being bowled. Within 20-25 Days, Dhoni replaced Dinesh Karthik in  as the Indian Test wicketkeeper- 251st Test cap for India.

  Story was same,in the first 3 days rain played the entire innings.    Dhoni scored 30 runs in his debut match that was marred by rain. Dhoni came to the crease when the team was struggling at 109/5 and as wickets kept falling around him, he played an aggressive innings and was the last man dismissed.

 His love to Chepauk starts from 2007. In 2007, just after the disastrous World Cup, Africa XI & Asia XI contested in a 3 match series,  2nd and 3rd ODI was played at Chepauk. He had a decent 2nd ODI, but in

the 3rd- he announced the world that "He is going to rule the  Cricket in upcoming years". When ASIA XI lost their 5th wicket for just 72 runs, MS joined with Mahela and added 218 for the 6th wicket. MSD was brutal. 139 N/O off 97 balls, consisiting 15 Fours and 5 sixes. His strike rate of 143.29 in that innings is  5th highest and highest for a centurian. He was adjudged as the Man of the Match. Years later in 2011, he won there against Windies in the Victorious World Cup as a captain,then in 2013 arch rivals Pakistan decided to play India in a bilateral series after 5 years. First Match was at chepauk, which is famous for Ind-Pak encounters. In 9.4 India lost thier 5th in form of Rohit Sharma. Then Comes the man, who was constantly burned by the media then. He slowly added 73 with Raina,wherehe scored just 22 off 63. India were at 102/6 when they lost Raina in the 34th over. Then comes ASH, another Super King. Captain again lift the inninings to last, starting slowly with Ash, he added 125 with Ash, where he score 91 off 62. Captain was at his best , he ran well, 

he was brilliant in judging,opened the face of bat so many times, flicked the ball well and the bottom hand power lifted India to a verycompetive total from 27/5. He completed his 50 around 80-85 balls , and for his next 63, he just took 40 balls. Even thoughIndia failed to defend that, the match will be always remembered for Master Class of MS.

Months later, when India were in a verge of defeats, when MS was under critics Australia visited India to play 4 tests. A year before India had lost the series at Australia 4-0. So it was  revenge time. In the first test at Chepauk, Aussies scored 380 in thefirst Innings. In reply, India lost their 4th wicket for 196. The Captain, who had an average Test record, joined young Virat Kohli.When the Technique-less Dhoni was dismissed, India's score was 546/9. In his way to 365 ball 224, he added 128 with Virat and 140 with Bhuvi. He was batting on 206 on the close of day 3. Innings consisit of 6 sixes and 24 fours.  India got a huge lead and Ashwin's magic-12

led India to a 8 wicket victory. Again MSD was adjudjed the Man of the Match his 3rd at Chepauk.

In Brief, he holds the record of most no.of  ODI runs here ,with a tally of 322 runs in 5 innings at an average of 107.33 and a S/R of 105.22.In tests he have scored 323 runs in 4 innings with an average of 80.75, consisting a fifty and a double hundred.He hasscored 22 N/O in only Intl.T20 he played here. His IPL Numbers as a captain and player is remarkable, especially for CSK. So no need togo through that in detail as the list of details continues as he hopefully plays here next year in yellow jersey.

Let it be a Beginning today, for Cheapuk's Mahendra Bahubali, who hopefully comes back to reign next year.Lets Bleed Blue in MAHIWWAY!-RJ