All the kings' men...

Getting up, close and personal with celebrities is an exciting prospect for any fan.

And in a country like ours that hero-worships its cricketers, it’s even more memorable when the celebrities happen to be the players of Chennai Super Kings (CSK), including captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Smith, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohit Sharma and John Hastings.

At a recently held meet-and-greet session with the team that’s currently on a winning spree in the latest season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) held at the ITC Gardenia, IT services and solutions providers UST Global unveiled a collaborative commercial made with CSK.

After the world premiere of the video, speeches by some of the players and dignitaries followed.

“What really impressed me was the speed with which this project progressed and how we’re launching the video within 30 days of coming up with a plan.

The most fun part for us when the director said it’s a wrap for the player,” joked the team captain.

He continued, “There were a lot of takes despite being on the set and working for hours.  And it was enjoyable because people don’t always know much about the sport but ask you to hold the bat one way and look the other. All I said was ‘I’m not Chanderpaul (West Indies cricketer). Only he can stand like that!’

Dhoni added that it was nice to have the CSK’s bowling coach Andy Bichel in the commercial. “He worked for precisely nine-and-a-half seconds!” he laughed.

On the contrary, Ravichandran Ashwin’s reaction to the video was much more subtle.

“It’s quite a surprise to see the video because we’re not great actor. But it’s still come out well thanks to technology!” he said.

This was followed by a casual question-answer session with those present. The players seemed relaxed while taking questions and even joked around with the audience.

Asked about CSK’s chances of winning this season, Dhoni replied, “Cricket, especially in this format, is like a lottery ticket.

If say one player gets 60 odd runs, there’s a chance of that team winning.

But there’s also always the chance of the opponents giving a better performance.

So it’s difficult to say who will emerge the winners. But it’s an exciting 10 days left for the spectators because they get excited if either side hits a six.

The team’s under a lot of pressure but we’ll do our best.”