In an explicit display of his passion and love towards Chennai Super Kings and its captain M.S. Dhoni, a die-hard fan from Arangur near Thittakudi in Cuddalore district has painted his house yellow, with the logo of CSK.
R. Gopikrishnan, a Forex trader working in Dubai, has been a die-hard fan of Dhoni since 2008. Though he was staying close to the stadium in Dubai where the Indian Premier League (IPL) matches are being hosted, Mr. Gopikrishnan could not watch the matches at the stadium due to the pandemic and the ban on spectators.
“I realised that I will not be able to cheer Dhoni and the Home Team during the matches. I returned to my hometown, Thittakudi, dejected,” he told The Hindu. “I was renovating my house and that’s when I decided to paint my house in yellow with the logo of CSK. My parents, who are also cricket fans, agreed immediately,” Mr. Gopikrishnan said.
“A number of fans were criticising and making adverse remarks about Dhoni for his performance in the ongoing IPL. With a view to ensuring that all the negative comments were nullified and to spread positivity, I decided to paint the house,” he said.
Mr. Goprikrishnan contacted his friends and searched the district to find an artist who could paint the house. The ardent fan also downloaded photos of Dhoni and the CSK logo from the Internet and handed them over to Selvaraj, an artist from Thittakudi.
Mr. Gopikrishnan spent ₹1.5 lakh to paint the house in yellow. Dhoni’s photos were painted on the front, while the CSK logo has been painted on the side walls with the message ‘#Home of Dhoni Fan’ at the entrance. The work was completed in two days and has now grabbed the attention of local residents.
Chennai Super Kings took to Twitter to share pictures of the house. “Super Fan Gopi Krishnan and his family in Arangur, Tamil Nadu call their residence Home of Dhoni fan and rightly so. A super duper tribute that fills our hearts with #yellove”, the tweet said.
