Sunil Gavaskar unhappy with external influences taking CSK matches out of Chennai

Former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar is very critical about his views on the recent shifting out of the home fixtures of Chennai Super Kings from Chennai. The Men in Yellow played just one match at their home venue, before the political tensions forced the remaining home matches to be shifted out of the city. In the solitary home game they played in Chennai, instances of shoe hurling at the players brought disrepute to the game.

Now, the CSK team is all set to host Rajasthan Royals at their new home venue in Pune. Writing about the same, Sunil Gavaskar noted that it is unfortunate for the loyal cricket fans of Chennai to not see their heroes in action again on their home surface. Also, he questioned if the curators in Pune had enough time to get the wicket ready for the marquee clash of the returning franchises.

“The Chennai Super Kings play their first match at their new ‘home ground’ at Pune. What a sad situation for the gentle cricket lovers of Chennai. They had been deprived of watching their favourite team for two years and then their appetite was whetted when the Chennai Super Kings returned to the Chidambaram stadium and won their first encounter,” Sunil Gavaskar wrote in his column for TOI.

On the impact of matches being shifted out

Commenting further on the same note, Sunil Gavaskar noted that it is a peculiar case in India where people or institutions that are not even related to the sport try to bring the sport to the fore to solve their problems. Gavaskar added that it will be interesting to see if the protesters get their work done after shifting out the matches from the city.

“Unfortunately we in India are masters at pulling down our best, be it individual champions or competitions and the IPL which is rated among the top five leagues in the world becomes a favourite target for those with agendas which have nothing to do with sport,” Gavaskar noted.

“It will be interesting to see if taking the IPL away from Chennai works for those who wanted it that way and even more so if any new movies or wedding or any other celebrations will be allowed or stopped for their cause,” he noted further.

On CSK’s grit

Lastly, the former Indian captain remarked that despite all the brouhaha surrounding the shifting of home games, the team has managed to stay intact. Sunil Gavaskar hailed the grit and determination of the team, that was epitomised by MS Dhoni in the previous game, where he batted through pain till the very end.

“What won’t be stopped is the Chennai team’s determination to win the trophy again. That was epitomised by their skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni playing a rousing innings despite a severe back injury. Chennai will be hoping that the intervening days since that injury will have worked in his favour and he will take the field and lead them against,” he conceded.

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