IPL: Fans flock to Chinnaswamy despite cloudy weather

Undeterred by looming clouds and the threat of rain, thousands of frenzied fans flocked to the Chinnaswamy stadium here on Wednesday night to watch Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) clash in the league tie of the IPL-8 tournament.

Being used to the city's unpredictable weather, about 30,000 fans rushed to the stadium an hour early after braving a hot and sultry day.

As dark clouds and drizzle delayed the game by 25 minutes, the restless fans were worried if rain gods would play spoilsport as they did in 2013 when the match was reduced to eight overs and in 2012 when it was abandoned.

"I am relieved to see clouds holding up and play starting a bit late. A tie between Bangalore and Chennai is always exciting for their traditional rivalry even in Ranji and other domestic tournaments.

"In CSK, (Mahendra Singh) Dhoni and (Suresh) Raina are my favourites while it's worth watching Ashwin (Ravichandran) and (Ravindra) Jadeja bowl," Prem Kumar, a 21-year-old techie with an IT firm, told IANS in the crowded eastern stands.

Though majority of fans were upset with the host team for losing two home games -- on April 19 to Mumbai Indians and on April 13 to Sun Risers Hyderabad -- they were unsure if RCB would beat CSK, which has won three of four games so far.

The tournament's two-time holders CSK, however, came into this game after losing to Rajasthan Royals in Ahmedabad on April 19 by eight wickets.

"As Chennai is a strong team with a right combination of batters and bowlers, it has an edge over Bangalore, which has been inconsistent in both the departments in the last two games. RCB's bowlers did not get early wickets and their favourite batters (Chris) Gayle and (Virat) Kohli did not fire in the last two losing games," Ayub Khan, an advertising executive, lamented.