What do you do if your wedding date falls on the day of a cricket match featuring India?
If you are a cricket fan in Chennai, like Anandakrishnan S is, you attempt to concentrate on both.
With the help of his cricket-crazy relatives, Anandakrishnan set up televisions at vantage points of the wedding hall in Vadapalani to ensure everybody watched India taking on England at Chepauk.
A picture taken of guests watching the match has gone viral since; Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin has shared it. A member of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Indian Premier League (IPL) Media and communications team, Moulin Parikh, shared the picture too, and posted, “Have skipped many family functions as they coincided with #TeamIndia matches in the pre-digital era. Wedding invites now must mention that the match will be streamed live to ensure full attendance. #INDvsENG. Camera – Akshay Natarajan.”
“I make it a point to watch any cricket played at Chepauk,” said Anandakrishnan, a 30-year-old finance manager and IIM alumni, who is an ardent fan of both Team India and Chennai Super Kings, “When my wedding date was fixed, the first thing I looked up was the cricket calendar for the year.”
India were taking on England during the same week he was getting married, but since the dates could not be changed due to auspicious dates, the family decided to live stream the cricket match in the venue. “Every now and then, I would turn to the vaadhyar (priest officiating the ceremony) to check the score. He was equally interested in the match,” added Anandakrishnan, whose wife, Krishnapriya, too follows the game closely.
