It was all yellow! Fan paints house in CSK colours to lift team spirits

Being a die-hard fan of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and its celebrated skipper M S Dhoni, 30-year-old R Gopikrishnan, working as a Forex trader in Dubai, could not stomach adverse comments and criticism that his favourite team and cricketer were subjected to this IPL season.

Wondering how to drown the negative noise and brighten the mood for CSK, Dhoni and the fans, he decided to extend the Indian cricket team's message of 'bleed blue' to his own favourite team in the league -- and it was all yellow.

Gopikrishnan painted his house completely yellow, commemorating it with the CSK's logo and portraits of Dhoni all over.

Gopikrishnan’s house in Arangur in Cuddalore district is now the cynosure of all eyes as people flock in huge numbers to take a look at the “yellove” house. The words “#Home_of_Dhoni_Fan” welcome one to this house and pictures of Gopikrishnan with his father Rangasamy, two brothers and his two kids, all dressed in the CSK jersey, have gone viral on social media.

The die-hard fan had also hoped to catch a glimpse of Dhoni in Dubai, where the IPL matches are being held, but came home instead after it was announced that no spectators would be allowed inside the stadiums.

CSK, owned by Chennai-based India Cements, has not been performing well this season and lost a couple of matches consecutively, much to the dismay of its fans.

The 30-year-old has spent Rs 1.5 lakh on painting the house yellow in just about a week and took pains to zero in on the “right artist” to get images of Dhoni drawn on the walls.

“There were adverse comments on CSK and Dhoni everywhere. Dhoni himself was targeted. That is when I thought of painting the house yellow and put an end to the negative sentiments. I also thought how happy Dhoni would be if he happened to see the pictures. I wanted to bring positivity and thus got my house painted,” Gopikrishnan told DH.

When Gopikrishnan conveyed his idea of painting his house yellow to his family members, being cricket fans themselves, all of them agreed. “I did not know the pictures would have the reach that they have had now, but this is exactly the kind of positive vibe we wanted to create. We will be happy if Dhoni sees these pictures,” he said.

The Forex trader said the pictures have brought in some hope for CSK fans as he has seen “remarkable change” in the minds of people who support the IPL team and Dhoni.

“If one looks at the comments on social media after my pictures went viral, they are positive. Fans are encouraging Dhoni to perform more. Earlier, they were abusing him though even though they claim they would always be his fans,” Gopikrishnan said.