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Chennai Super Kings fans find home away from home through ‘Whistle Podu Express’
If Chennai Super Kings officials are to be believed, there are more than a thousand fans who will head to Pune on a train named the ‘Whistle Podu Express’ to watch the team play Rajasthan Royals
What is a home turf if there are no ‘home’ fans around? With Chennai Super Kings’s matches shifting to Pune owing to protests over the Cauvery water dispute, the franchise has decided to bring in fans to the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, here in Pune all the way from Chennai for their tie against Rajasthan Royals on Friday.
And it isn’t a select few. If CSK officials are to be believed, there are more than a thousand fans who will head to the city on a train named the ‘Whistle Podu Express’. There are 13 sleeper compartments and an AC three-tier compartment. It is a special train that will run from Chennai to Pune and will carry only fans of Chennai Super Kings.
“In the last two years, the hardcore CSK fans were very supportive towards us. Thus, having seen just one game in Chennai, they were very keen and the fan club was requesting us whether we can give them tickets at concessional rates and whether they can come to Pune and watch. And we thought that the least that we could do, given the kind of support that we have, was for them to come and see the match. And the management was kind enough to do it,” CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan told this reporter.
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The only match that could be held at the MA Chidambaram Stadium this season was, however, a nail-bitter with the hosts beating Kolkata Knight Riders by five wickets.
“We spoke to the Indian Railways as well since it’s only through them that we could get this done,” Viswanathan said, before adding that the fans were selected by the franchise’s registered fan club. “There is a registered fan club of CSK, which has a secretary, joint-secretary, treasurer and so on. They have their own ways of getting the fans together. And they have selected the fans. The franchise will take care of all the accommodation. We arranged hotels and places wherever we can closer to the stadium. Everything is taken care of by the franchise.”
Although the idea has been implemented for just the game against Royals, Viswanathan added that the franchise would want to extend the initiative for the rest of the games as well. “It will be a challenge but we’ll try and do our best. The fans are always in touch with us. Even in Chennai matches, they come and buy tickets from us. Even on practice days, we have around 10,000 people coming in at the stadium. That is the following that CSK has got. They are the backbone of CSK. They have been backing us for the last so many years. Even after the two-year break we were able to come back and the following was the same. This is the least which we could think of. We only want them to have a good match and go back.”
