Ahmedabad: Indian cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar who is currently doing commentary in the 16th edition of Indian Premier League 2023 was spotted grooving on Pushpa’s song during the opening ceremony of the cash-rich league on March 31 at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.
From singer Arijit Singh, actors Tamannaah Bhatia and Rashmika Mandanna set the stage for a tantalising IPL 2023 opener between defending champions Gujarat Titans and four-time winners Chennai Super Kings.
A video of Gavaskar went viral on social space where the legend was spotted dancing in the commentary room on Pushpa’s sami sami song, here is the viral video:
As the IPL returns to the home-and-away format after four years, the Narendra Modi Stadium was jam-packed and for a moment, one would have been mistaken for the gathering to be the one from Chepauk in Chennai.
During the broadcast, despite the blue of Gujarat Titans being largely visible, it was thoroughly outsmarted by the yellow of Chennai Super Kings, with the decibel level going high whenever MS Dhoni’s picture appeared on the giant screen, sending the crowd into a frenzy.
The stadium suddenly began to give the feel of a live music concert with Arijit taking centre stage and the vociferous crowd joining him to sing along to his sensational chartbusters. Arijit began with simple yet melodious vocals and then hit the high notes, followed by taking a round of the ground in a buggy.
Gujarat skipper Hardik Pandya was glued’to Arijit’s soulful performance while Chennai skipper MS Dhoni, who got the loudest cheers from the capacity crowd, was calmly seated in the dugout, listening to the trending tracks.
Tamannaah got their energy levels up through her graceful moves. But the Chennai fans, outnumbering Gujarat supporters, had another moment when Rashmika’s “Vanakkam Chennai Super Kings” got louder cheers than “Kem cho Gujarat Titans?”, followed by her dancing to some popular songs, including the chartbuster Naatu Naatu from the movie RRR.
When the performers as well as dignitaries from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) were called upon the stage to conclude the opening ceremony, Dhoni and Pandya arrived on grand chariots.
With IANS Inputs
