Chennai fans given tickets to ride

Chennai Super Kings have paid for hundreds of loyal fans to attend their second 'home' match of the IPL, which will be staged more than 1000km away in Pune.

The Super Kings have been forced to move their remaining home matches this season to the MCA Stadium in Pune after protests stemming from a water dispute in Chennai meant the safety of spectators at Chepauk Stadium, their traditional home ground, could not be assured.

But Chennai's players will still be greeted by a sea of yellow for their match against Rajasthan on Friday night after the franchise organised for a chartered train - named the Whistle Podu Express after the team's supporter group - to transport hundreds of fans on the 21-hour journey to Pune.

In addition to footing the bill for the train, the Super Kings paid for tickets to the match and overnight accommodation for its loyalist supporters, who will return home on Saturday.

"Fans have been integral to our team and we have seen how much it matters to them," CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan told The New Indian Express.

"So when they approached us for help regarding travel, we thought why not go a step further and get all of them to Pune. We had little time because it happened inside three days.

"We sent our logistics team to Pune to take care of accommodation, food and other things. We have put them up in six hotels and two marriage halls."

Videos on social media showed the supporters singing and dancing on the train as it snaked its way from India's east coast to the Maharashtra in the west of the country.

More than 20,000 tickets have been sold to Friday night's match, which was only shifted to Pune a week ago after protestors threatened to release snakes at Chepauk Stadium if matches continued to be played in Chennai.

Chennai's opening home match of the season was the first time the Super Kings had played at Chepauk since a two-year ban was handed down for a betting scandal.

But their homecoming was marred when protesters, trying to raise awareness about a long-running water dispute with neighbouring Karnataka, burned merchandise and jostled with police outside the stadium.

Shoes were hurled at Chennai players on the boundary ropes during the match, which the Super Kings won over the Kolkata Knight Riders despite the disruption.

The return to Pune will be a homecoming of sorts for Super Kings captain MS Dhoni and coach Stephen Fleming, who joined forces at Rising Pune Supergiant during Chennai's two-year ban.

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