What will happen when Mahendra Singh Dhoni decides he has played IPL cricket? Who is going to attract the crowds to Chennai's M. A. Chidambaram Stadium once "Thala" is unavailable? Chennai Super Kings are heavily dependent on their most influential player so much so that they don't have another icon in their ranks whom the crowds adore, former batter Ambati Rayudu pointed out.
Tickets are almost always sold out at the Chepauk stadium even if IPL matches happen on weekdays. However, the lion's share of these people arrive to see MS Dhoni play more than CSK, Rayudu claimed. The team management is likely to feel the consequence of letting the franchise orbit around one man when his playing days are over, the six-time IPL winner said.
The CSK think tanks will have to work hard and quick to find a solution to this issue if they don't want half-filled or empty stands at the Chepauk, the former India international said. "They have not built up any other guy in the franchise to pull the crowds, because it has always revolved around MS Dhoni. That might come back to maybe bite them in terms of branding or getting the crowds in. So they will have to really think out of the box to make something happen," Ambati Rayudu told ESPN CricInfo amidst the ongoing IPL season.
Ever since MS Dhoni's international retirement, fans at the Chepauk have often celebrated the fall of the CSK batter just ahead of the wicketkeeper in the lineup so that he can come to the middle. Although no public comments have been made yet, CSK fans cheering the fall of CSK wickets have not gone unnoticed and many players are unhappy about it, Rayudu said. Such a phenomenon is uncommon across IPL stadiums and fanbases, Rayudu pointed out to further emphasize Dhoni's influence over the Chennai crowd.
"It will be quite challenging [after Dhoni's retirement]. Not only for the players or Chennai but definitely for the franchise itself, because for them to [attract] crowds like that, especially even on weekdays - the stands are full, the engagement is amazing; there is no cricketer close to him, to be honest," Rayudu reportedly told ESPN CricInfo.