Inside Chepauk: Meet the architect who redesigned Chennai’s iconic cricket ground

MS Dhoni slumped into his seat, exhausted.

He would possibly perceive the faint cries of ‘Thala’ - astir 45,000 of them - combined with the energetic beats from the DJ console, thing that amplifies each clip the doorway of the location squad dressing country opens.

Chennai has pinned hopes connected Dhoni aka Number 7 since 2008, erstwhile helium was picked for the Chennai Super Kings, a concern that would soon go an obsession for the city’s cricket fanatics.

Dhoni’s precocious points of happiness and disappointments person arrived successful this small country wrong the imposing MA Chidambaram stadium successful Chennai.

The cricketer is not present present - helium astir apt is plucking strawberries successful his Ranchi workplace oregon operating a drone for Garuda Aerospace - but 1 of his diehard fans, designer Sanjeevi Krishnakumar, is.

“Goosebumps no?,” helium says, eyes wide successful excitement. Sanjeevi slides onto the No 7 seat wrong the CSK dressing country with trepidation, astir similar helium needs permission. “Visiting the Chepauk stadium has been connected my bucket database for a agelong clip and to acquisition this place, wherever each the players really bent out, gives maine the chills,” says this 23-year-old architect, his eyes wandering done the workspaces of different CSK legends similar Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin.

Sanjeevi – on with 50-plus architects – is making his mode from the location squad dressing country to the hallowed stands astatine the MA Chidambaram Stadium. The crushed comes live during matchdays, filled with yellowish during the IPL and bluish during Team India matches, but connected a random Friday evening, determination are conscionable a fewer unit mounting the writer close and serving radical wrong the historical Madras Cricket Club.

Guiding them connected a tour, organised by the Indian Institute of Architects (Chennai Centre), is simply a antheral rather acquainted with each nook and country of this hallowed sporting premises. Venkat Aiyadurai of Nataraj and Venkat Architects, who has worked with the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association connected galore renovations including the Madras Cricket Club and the Anna Pavilion successful the past, was approached successful 2007 with a seemingly-impossible request: can you plan a caller stadium?

“It got maine truly worried,” recalls Venkat, “I had nary hint however to spell astir things.”

Seeking guidance, an anxious Venkat and squad reached retired to Britain’s starring architects Sir Michael Hopkins, who had worked connected the celebrated Mount Stand wrong the iconic Lord’s Cricket Stadium. After immoderate backmost and forth, they got an thought connected however to instrumentality things forward, successful bid to fulfil the needs of the modern game: much spectators successful greater comfortableness and easiness of question astir the ground, among different things. “I’m an avid cricket instrumentality and person been watching the crippled for galore years. In the olden days, erstwhile we mostly had impermanent stands and roofs, astatine 3pm, aft tea, the shot would commencement swinging... chiefly owed to oversea breeze. It was a pacers’ delight to commencement bowling aft beverage during Test matches. I wanted to bring that facet backmost with the caller crushed we were designing.”

Bringing backmost the breeze – and hence, much assistance to plaything bowling – was 1 of the captious aspects portion designing the caller stadium. This besides meant amended ventilation for spectators. Any cricket lucifer successful Chennai tin beryllium blistery and humid, but the gaps betwixt the 12 stands successful the caller plan ensures that the acquisition is simply a small much bearable.

Also captious was providing the perfect viewing acquisition for the spectators, who usually person to brave traffic, crowds and humidity to get to their seats during lucifer days. “In the olden days, it was hard for idiosyncratic sitting astatine a precocious space to spot the bound below,” recalls Venkat. Applying the architectural conception of C-value, which refers to the vertical region betwixt a spectator’s oculus and the enactment of the show that passes supra the caput of the idiosyncratic successful the enactment successful front, Venkat, on with aggregate inputs from the squad astatine Hopkins Architects, worked connected the design. “This facet affected sighting of the cricket matches. We worked hard connected getting it right.”

Chennai’s newly-designed stadium, operational since 2007 and witnesser to respective pulsating sporting clashes, has been the taxable of treatment among galore celebrities from the cricketing fraternity. One of them is erstwhile Indian cricketer and respected umpire, S Venkatraghavan. “He precocious told me, ‘I’ve gone to grounds each implicit the word, but Chepauk is the lone spot where, irrespective of wherever you sit, you tin spot the bound below.’ That was the top compliment I’ve got.”

What astir modern cricketing greats? “Dravid (Rahul Dravid) had precise bully things to archer astir the ground. Dhoni, I’ve been told by the CSK personnel, loves it here.”

Over the years, Chennai’s MA Chidambaram stadium has hosted galore memorable Test matches, including the once-popular Test matches and the historical 1986 Tied Test betwixt India and Australia. Cricket nerds volition besides retrieve the venue hosting respective high-scoring encounters and comebacks successful the ODI format. But since the advent of IPL 2007, the T-20 format of thriller precocious evening games person caught the attraction of many, frankincense besides sparking disconnected the request for AC hospitality boxes, which were each factored successful during the caller design.

Currently being renovated by the TNCA crushed unit with a caller greenish cover, Chepauk volition soon get acceptable to big matches of the T20 World Cup and IPL 2026. The whistles volition beryllium back. And yes, Dhoni volition beryllium hopefully back, wearing the yellowish jersey.