‘Bhai kutte kab se Cricket khelne lage’ – Fans react as dog enters playing field ahead of Chennai versus Lucknow ITL 2023 clash

After losing their opening fixture against the Gujarat franchise by five wickets, the Chennai franchise is locking horns with Lucknow in the sixth fixture of the 2023 edition of the Indian T20 League (ITL) at the M.A. Chidambaram, in Chennai on Monday, April 3.

For Chennai, Devon Conway and Ruturaj Gaikwad walked out to the center to start the innings. The fresh ball was in Kyle Mayers’ hands, but there was a little delay as a dog entered the field and the grounds crew made an effort to remove it. They finally succeeded in doing so, and the game began.

The Lucknow franchise skipper, KL Rahul won the toss and elected to bowl first after. After almost 4 years, Chennai will play their first home game, and MS Dhoni, the home team skipper will be the center of attention. To lead the points table, Lucknow will aim to secure their second straight victory in the competition.

ITL started in 2008 but we’ve not played a lot of cricket here: MS Dhoni

“We’ll bowl first. We want to know what we are chasing. It was a really good performance against Delhi, all parts of the game we did well. We need to turn up again today and better those performances. Jaydev Unadkat misses out, Yash Thakur comes in. Today, we need to assess the conditions well and find the right lengths early. Get the batters out early and then hope there is a bit of dew, dew factor is always there in Chennai,” Rahul was quoted as saying after winning the toss.

“Does mean a lot. ITL started in 2008 but we’ve not played a lot of cricket here. Only about 5-6 seasons we’ve been here. This is the first time the full stadium will be operational, a few stands were empty earlier. Same squad for this game. Need to keep assessing our situation and keep revisiting our targets, keep a realistic goal in mind and take it from there,” Dhoni was quoted as saying at the time of toss.

Here’s  how fans reacted on the dog’s entry: