‘Stayed back as this is our last chance to see Dhoni play’

The sudden downpour which drowned out the final of the IPL between Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings on Sunday threw a spanner in the plans of many Dhoni fans who had gathered from different parts of India While many returned a few including Mumbaikars stayed backMumbaikars Udit Thakkar is among several cricket fans along with those from Chennai Delhi and other cities who travelled to Ahmedabad for the IPL final on Sunday However the unexpected rain changed their plansUdit ThakkarSharing their experience on Sunday evening Thakkar told midday ldquoThe main issue was that people were annoyed by the rain and wanted to leave the stadium quickly But the announcement of match cancellation was delayed Other than that the crowd behaved just finerdquoOnce out Thakkar and four of his friends decided they wonrsquot be deterred by the rain gods They extended their stay in the hope of watching the final and seeing CSK winBhayandar East Yash Dodia in blue Tshirt and Om Shah in yellow Tshirt from Malad West with their friend at the stadiumldquoWe had bookings for only one day with a plan to check out after the match We had to find a new place when the match was pushed to Monday They were available but understandably priced a little highrdquo Thakkar saidThe extended stay gave him an opportunity to meet more supporters from Chennai ldquoWe met many fans from Chennai A couple in their 60s who are staying at the same hotel as us has also decided to stay backrdquo he sharedLeft Mumbaikar Archan Pradhan at the stadium with his friendsFor Om Shah a resident of Orlem in Malad West the rain was certainly a dampener but he couldnrsquot let go of the opportunity to watch M S Dhoni play in the yellow jersey ldquoWe had arrived in Ahmedabad on Sunday and had booked a return ticket for Monday But being a Dhoni fan it was my last opportunity to watch him play Hence I decided to stay back We were lucky to get an extension at the hotel We just need to reschedule our bus ticket back to MumbaildquoMany people were upset when the match was postponed because of the rain and they headed back to their hometowns But there were some who decided to leave only after watching their favourite cricketers playrdquo Om Shah saidYash Dodia who had travelled to Ahmedabad from Navghar in Bhayandar East with Om and another friend from Mumbai said that they waited at the stadium until 1130 pm for the match to start ldquoBut it was moved to Monday It was not that bad an experience thanks to all the fans with whom we had long and fun conversations We will return home after watching the matchrdquoArchan Pradhan a 34yearold Mumbaikar was among the many officegoers who extended their leave to watch the final A Mumbai Indians fan Pradhan had purchased his ticket in the hope of seeing Rohit Sharma and co in the finals ldquoI just hope Gujarat Titans win because I donrsquot want Chennai to win five trophies the same as usrdquo he addedSpeaking about the bad weather he said ldquoIt did not stop fans from staying back for the reserve dayrdquo Pradhan recalled meeting fans from Delhi as well as Chennai He said that quite a few people spent the night at Ahmedabad railway station tooOn Sunday a few people faced a little difficulty while leaving the Narendra Modi Stadium previously called Motera Stadium as the parking was quite far Thakkar said ldquoAlso it was difficult to find rickshaws in the rainrdquo he added