CSK’s IPL win to boost T20’s popularity worldwide, says N Srinivasan of India Cements

N.Srinivasan, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, India Cements Ltd. and Member of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams Trust Board, receives the IPL Trophy that the CSK had won after pooja at the TTD temple in Chennai along with Rupa Gurunath, Whole Time Director, India Cements Ltd.

The M.S. Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings (CSK) lifting the trophy in the just-concluded edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will boost the popularity of the franchise-based cricket format across the world, according to N. Srinivasan, vice-chairman and managing director of India Cements Ltd (ICL). ICL owned the CSK franchise from inception in 2008 till 2014, when the ownership was transferred to Chennai Super Kings Cricket Ltd.

In a conversation with Moneycontrol, Srinivasan said the popularity of the team and its ‘Captain Cool’ (one of Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s more popular nicknames) would definitely trigger interest in countries like the US for franchise-based cricket. In the US, franchise-based models drive sports such as basketball, football and baseball, he added. In fact, domestic advertising supported such franchise-based sports in the US, he pointed out.

“It was a remarkable win,” said Srinivasan, adding that it “put Chennai on top of the world”.  The stadium was more yellow (the team’s kit colour) than anything else both in the qualifier and the final, he said, signifying CSK’s huge fan following. According to him, the people of Chennai had made Dhoni one of their own. “CSK is MSD, and MSK is CSK,” he said.

Once they get back from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where the IPL was held, Dhoni and his teammates will be given a grand reception at Chennai’s M.A. Chidambaram stadium in the presence of state chief minister M.K. Stalin, he added.

Dhoni is staying back in the UAE as he has been appointed the mentor of the Indian T20 World Cup team.

Asked what the CSK win—the side’s fourth in the IPL—meant, Srinivasan said, “This (the win) is a lesson for Indian cricket.” The win has shown that experience matters, he added.

Earlier, the cup won by CSK in the IPL VIVO 2021 Cricket Tournament was placed before the deity at the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam Temple at T. Nagar in Chennai on Monday. This had been the custom whenever CSK has won the IPL trophy.

Srinivasan, who is also a member of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam Trust Board, received the trophy after puja in the temple. Rupa Gurunath, whole-time director of ICL and president, Tamil Nadu Cricket Association, and K.S. Viswanathan, CEO of Chennai Super Kings Cricket, were also present at the puja.