Mahendra Singh Dhoni Fansite

To the roar of lions on-screen and a three-hour high-voltage entertainment show, the Gladiators of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for the Indian Premier League 20:20 cricket tournament were officially launched in Chennai on Saturday.

The team was announced in the presence of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, India’s one-day captain and wicketkeeper, and the captain of the Chennai Super Kings team.

Unveiling the team’s apparel, sponsored by Reebok, Dhoni said, “Being a captain always feels great, and I am proud to lead a young team. The ultimate aim is to win the trophy for the Chennai Super Kings,” he added.

The brand ambassador of CSK, Krishnamachari Srikkanth, jokingly justified his role in a 20:20 series. Srikkanth said that he never lasted for more than 20 overs in any form of the game and that should have prompted the team management to appoint him as brand ambassador.

The star ambassadors for the team, actors Vijay and Nayanthara hoped that the team would come victorious as champions in the eight-team tourney. Praising Dhoni for his leadership skills, Vijay termed him as a ‘cool captain’, while Nayanthara assured that her support is always for the IPL Chennai team.

Earlier, the team members including Suresh Raina, L Balaji, Parthiv Patel, S Badrinath, Joginder Sharma and others were introduced in batches. The crowd, however, was disappointed when overseas players Mathew Hayden, Stephen Fleming, Makhaya Ntini, Jacob Oram, Muttiah Muralitharan, Michael Hussey, Albie Morkel failed to make it.

Kepler Wessels, former batsman and the only player to hit centuries for two different countries, Australia and South Africa, was officially introduced as the coach, while, Gregory King was announced as the physical trainer for the Chennai Super Kings team.

V B Chandrashekar, the assistant coach and who was instrumental in putting together this composition described the Chennai Super Kings team as “fearless entertainers”.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008 at 7:31 pm and is filed under Chennai Super Kings, Dhoni, Indian Premier League. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.