Playing in front of loyal home fans will be interesting

Playing in front of loyal home fans who have waited for two years to see IPL action will be interesting, especially after having won the season opener in Mumbai where Dwayne Bravo batted unbelievably to take Chennai Super Kings to the doorstep of a famous victory.

It should be a good game today against Kolkata Knight Riders given that both teams will be facing each other after having won their opening matches. For me, as a player for CSK, it will be first home game and to play in front of cricket fans waiting for IPL action for two years would be a high.

I would say the victory against Mumbai from a precarious situation was a classic win. We needed this kind of a victory.

Bravo played one of the best innings of his IPL career. He hit the ball well from the word go. Also not to forget the four overs he bowled on a wicket which was difficult given that Wankhede has a batting friendly track. The last two overs Bravo bowled, he gave about eight-nine runs, which was also crucial.

When Bravo got out, Kedar Jadhav went in with a clear thought about the kind of shots he was going to play. Then he judged the bowler well and got that six which was obviously crucial.

After that victory, we all got together in the dressing room with the coach and soaked in the atmosphere as this kind of a win obviously brings everyone together. It definitely lit up the mood in the CSK camp.

As we prepare for the match against KKR, we know that they too played well against RCB. Also we are well aware that KKR captain Dinesh Karthik is from Chennai and will have some support. It will be another cracker of a game.

The first game of 2018 has set the stage for IPL. An unbelievable game and a platform for Chennai to arrive and we arrived and how. Kudos to the team and looking forward to get support.

The kind of support we got at Wankhede, in spite of not being a local team, was unbelievable and obviously people have waited for CSK to make a comeback. This shows how much the team was missed for last two seasons.

Even in Mumbai there were a large number of CSK supporters in the stands waiting for the action.

Professional Management Group / ESP