As the fireworks display peppered the night sky with brilliant hues here on Friday, a patch of green once again captured the nation's attention and imagination.
Though the World Cup got over just a few days ago, a packed M.A. Chidambaram stadium lapped up ałl that the fourth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL-4) had to offer as the mega sporting event got off to a thunderous start.
At the opening ceremony, Bollywood was out in full strength, led by its Badshah, Shahrukh Khan.
The master entertainer sent the crowd into raptures when he launched into peppy Tamil numbers along with actor Shriya Saran.
Shankar Narayanan, who has been to every IPL match that took place in Chennai, screamed, “I never expected Shahrukh to perform to Tamil numbers. Kalakkitta maamu [You rocked dude]!”
Outside the stadium, cricket fanatics such as S. Srinivas (13) were waiting to get their faces painted. Being a Kolkata Knight Riders supporter, he kept saying to all the paraphernalia sellers, “I'm not CSK!”
Explaining the reason, he said: “I like Gambhir. So I shifted loyalties.”
His mom Vanitha, a die-hard CSK supporter, cannot forgive Srinivas. “He's a traitor,” she said.
Despite the infectious enthusiasm, there were quite a few offering tickets for half the price showing that ‘World Cup hangover' seems to be true for at least a section of the fans.
E. Jaishree (11), from Villupuram, a beneficiary of the Save A Child's Heart Foundation project of Apollo Hospitals, walked with the two team captains on the pitch.
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