The Chennai cricket crowd, the old saying goes, are among the most knowledgeable in India. At IPL games featuring Chennai Super Kings (CSK), they are also among the most passionate. But that passion, at times, seems more about MS Dhoni and less about the team and, Ambati Rayudu says, "it is quite strange, and I don't think it actually serves the game well".
Think CSK batting at Chepauk. A wicket falls, it's like a countdown starts for when Dhoni would come out. Another falls, the excitement builds. It's almost a throwback to the days of Sachin Tendulkar, when, in Test matches, the fall of the second India wicket would be the cue for great joy for the crowd, simply because their favourite star would be out next. For the batter going out - and Rahul Dravid knows this more than anyone else - it's not fun.
"It is quite daunting if you're a newcomer," Rayudu ESPNcricinfo. "It's quite loud. The support is phenomenal. But, as you go on and play, then you realise they are MS Dhoni fans before they are CSK fans. It is quite evident, and rightly so, because that's the way the team has been set up and built over the years. He's rightly named Thala [leader] and he has been calling the shots in CSK, and it's come to a stage where people are madly in awe and in love of what he's done for CSK.
"It's been happening for quite a few years now, and quite a few players have felt it over the years, you know, if not come out openly and said something about it, but internally, a lot of people used to feel that the crowd… even though we also love MS Dhoni, and they also love MS Dhoni and we want to see him bat, but sometimes when you, as an individual, are going out to bat they are shouting from the crowd to… literally asking you to get out. Or they are anticipating or expecting you to get out.
"So it is quite strange, and I don't think it actually serves the game well to be very honest. All the [other] players are giving their best for the team as well. They are also preparing and doing really well for the franchise, and they have put in a lot of sacrifice to be where they are. When things like that happen from their own crowd, it is, I feel, maybe it can be avoided."
No one could have blamed Tendulkar for his fandom then and no one can blame Dhoni for his fandom now, or blame Virat Kohli for his, for that matter. But is it something that can be addressed? Maybe something Dhoni himself could do?
"It is hard to challenge the number of fans that are present there and ask them to support your players," Rayudu said. "But that's what any good crowd would generally do - support the team, support the players, and especially [Ravindra] Jadeja, who has done so well in the recent past for the franchise, who has won some crucial games. I don't know if MS Dhoni will ever address that. He has not addressed that in the past as well. I don't know if it's the right thing to do for him as well. Because all of them are rooting for the franchise as well, eventually.
"Maybe he thought it was prudent not to. It's just the culture. We are in awe of these superstars. I don't think it should change, but there should be a balance, especially in a team game. Because there are also other individuals who are affected by it. The best person who can address that is MS Dhoni himself.
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"If he comes out and says, 'they are all our players, and just like me batting they are batting in the middle', or something like that to soothe the crowd, it will be great for the players."
And what happens once Dhoni finishes up? That might have happened a few years ago. It hasn't. And it might not for a few seasons. What does that do to the fans, and to the team?
"It will be quite challenging. 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 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."