Ground report: Out of form, but not out of fans

"DOES that mean you are coming back next year as well?" asked broadcaster Danny Morrison, indicating to the loud cheers from the stands of the MA Chidambaram stadium, as he spoke to Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni.

- GOMESH S @ Chennai

The 43-year-old, in his typically witty manner, replied, "I don't know. I am coming for the next game."

It led to a comical moment at the toss, but as the camera panned, the one thing that was hard to miss was the number of empty seats in the stands. Now, it was a Wednesday, and on most weekday IPL games the crowd takes time to come in and fill the stands. On such occasions, how the stands look about an hour into the game gives a fair idea on what the attendance is going to be. And Chepauk, which can hold about 35,000 fans, has consistently seen an official attendance close to 30,000 or more.

The SRH game saw about 32,770 fans fill the ground while on Wednesday, as many as 32,063 fans (according to official figures) had shown up till about 8.30PM.