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PHOTO: S. S. KUMAR

ON A DIFFERENT PITCH The cricketers with actor Madhavan

The event, of course, was the showcasing of a special collection by Peter England Elite, the formal wear sponsors for the Chennai Super Kings.

After watching them sweat it out on the field, it was equally exciting to watch the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) don the role of models and sashay down the ramp, well groomed and in formal wear. Thunderous clapping and cheers followed every cricketer especially “namma oor mappilae” Muttiah Muralitharan. But the loudest cheers were reserved for skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni who, though on a different pitch, displayed the same poise he does while on the cricket field. Muralitharan, Makaya Ntini, AB de Villiers and Stephen Fleming too seemed confident when it was their turn to walk the ramp. As the charming Madhavan shot rapid fire questions at the cricketers, everyone was in splits. During the final round of the show, Ntini being Ntini couldn’t help but burst into peals of laughter. Called the jester of the team, he kept them amused the whole time. Asked what kept him so energetic, he said in his inimitable style, “I don’t require energy drinks as I have energy in my blood.”

The last set of questions was reserved for Dhoni and it was interesting to watch him and Maddy chat like school boys, discussing how much fun it was to wait outside girls’ schools. And when Maddy asked Dhoni how he knew about girls’ schools, Captain Cool calmly replied, “I was a teenager once and even I used to go to school.”

By the end of the show, the cricketers were in a relaxed mood and, as a result, a few questions from the audience were passed on to Ntini which Maddy translated to him in Tamil and Ntini wittingly answered in his language.

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