The Chennaiyin FC fans filled the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium – or as they would call it ‘Marina Arena’ – with a sea of blue as they turned up in huge numbers to cheer the home team against last year’s title winners, Atletico De Kolkata, in the second edition of Indian Super League. They waved the blue flags and wore their team jerseys, kept chanting the names of home stars every time they touched the ball. The crowd went ‘Elano, Elano’, each time he took a corner or dodged past a defender.
The high point glitzy opening ceremony, which saw performances by Aliaa Bhatt, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and A.R. Rahman, belongs to Tamil superstar Rajinikanth, who presented the match ball.
Later on, Rajinikanth shared a buggy ride with Little Master Sachin Tendulkar inside the ground sending the crowd into a selfie-frenzy as they tried to get the two Indian icons in the same frame as themselves.
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While Chennayin FC fans completely outnumbered the away fans, Atletico De Kolkata fans were vocal as well and were seen cheering their team.
Bollywood actor Arjun Kapoor hosted the evening and the crowd was entertained by young Bollywood actor Alia Bhatt who performed a medley of songs from her movies and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, who shook a leg to ‘Irumbile Irudhayam’ from Rajinikanth's ‘Enthiran’, among her other hits.
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As the teams came out for a warm up, it was clear that Chennayin FC's marquee player and captain, Elano, and Mendy were clearly the crowd’s favourite.
Part owner of Chennaiyin FC Abhishek Bachchan read out the pledge in the presence of captains of Chennaiyin FC and Atletico De Kolkata and also introduced the home players. He later watched his team warm up from the sidelines.
Influential Industrialist Mukesh Ambani was seen cheering from the stands.
Composer A.R. Rahman, who goes by the moniker, Mozart of Madras, performed a short composition just as the players made their way to the dug out.
He also sang the nation anthem just before the kick-off. Neeta Ambani joined him.