gala gala, hoo haa, hoo haa.But, as the afternoon wore on and Root, Mooen Ali and Jonny Bairstow piled on the runs, each landma

Daniel Ricciardo insists he is not bothered about the impact he could have on the championship fight between Mercedes drivers Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton in the final three races.Red Bull has been a legitimate challenger to Mercedes in recent races, having split the Silver Arrows cars for podium finishes in Belgium, Singapore and Japan, while also claiming a one-two in Malaysia after Hamiltons engine failure. Hamilton arrives in Mexico for this weekends grand prix 26 points down on Rosberg and needs the German to finish off the podium at one race to have a chance at retaining his title.That means Ricciardo and teammate Max Verstappen could help Hamilton by finishing between him and Rosberg in the remaining three races.?When asked if that fact will be in his mind when he is racing, or whether he will just get on with it as normal, Ricciardo laughed and said: Just get on with it! Im aware of it now sitting here, but come Sunday its completely not in my mind.Just go out there and hopefully... Whether me getting a good result changes the balance of the championship at the end of the day, its still not my business or not my doing, its just me trying to do what I can do in the car. Ill try and get as many points as I can.The Mexico race is run at 2,250 metres above sea level, meaning the thinner air creating a number of potential reliability and set-up issues. With Mercedes under pressure to ensure reliability for both drivers, Ricciardo thinks Red Bull could capitalise.Responding to a question about how Red Bull would fare at high altitudes against Mercedes and Ferrari, he replied: I know were better off this year than we were last year, but no idea [about the other two]. I dont know if [higher altitude] is going to mean a couple of concerns for Mercedes, I know the last few races theyve been running a bit conservative -- I dont know if that plays a role. If they play conservative again is it good news for us, Im not sure....Grip was an issue at the Mexican Grand Prix last year, as the circuit returned to the F1 calendar. Ricciardo thinks it should have improved this season, to the benefit of Red Bull.I think well be alright. Last year I dont think we had a competitive car at this point of the season and we still managed to get a fourth and fifth, so it was a pretty good race for us as a team. Looking at it like that, we should do quite well.Im curious to know what the grips like - last year it was a bit frustrating, the level of grip, it was really hard to find a balance. You just had to make do with a pretty balanced car. But this year we should be able to get more out of it and if there is more grip it should allow us to run the downforce we want to use the Red Bull strengths. Under Armour Shoes Ireland . LOUIS -- Roman Polak was celebrating even before Alexander Steen scored the winning goal in Saturdays 4-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. Discount Under Armour Shoes .C. -- Rodney Hood connected from all over the court while freshman Jabari Parker was busy swatting shots and scoring in transition. http://www.underarmourcheapireland.com/ . The parade and rally were held to celebrate the Saskatchewan Roughriders 45-23 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Sunday in the CFLs championship game. Cheap Under Armour Shoes Ireland . -- Matt Kuchar and Harris English ran away with the Franklin Templeton Shootout, shooting a 14-under 58 on Sunday in the final-round scramble to break the tournament course record. Wholesale Shoes Ireland . According to a report from the Vancouver Province, the Lions are expected to replace former DC Rich Stubler with defensive backs coach Mark Washington. December has traditionally been a time for revelry in Chennai. There is the kaarthigai deepam (festival of lights), Christmas, and the annual Margazhi festival, a resplendent celebration of classical music and dance during the ninth month on the Tamil calendar.But the ravaging floods in early December last year, which claimed hundreds of lives, scarred conventional considerations. Memories of the Boxing Day Tsunami in 2004 were quickly revisited, and people began to suspect Chennai was in an abusive relationship with the last month of the calendar. December 2016 has already given enough heft to such theories.There was the death of J Jayalalithaa, the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, on December 5. About a week later, Cyclone Vardah unleashed itself, and although not in the same magnitude of the floods in 2015, the storm system did considerable damage. Cricket, like the other December festivities, wasnt a priority when people were still grappling with the aftermath.But, for a cricket-starved city - since 2008, Chennai has hosted only three Tests, among the lowest for a traditional Test centre - its first Test in nearly four years was a chance to heal. And so the MA Chidambaram Stadium was restored on a war-footing - the crumpled chairs and tree debris were cleared up, bulbs were replaced and sight-screens mended. Just when congratulatory back-slaps were in order, nature allowed itself some schadenfreude: the skies had opened up with less than 12 hours to go for the Test match. The ground staff insisted these would be short, sharp showers, and that the pitch and outfield would remain unaffected.The rain relented soon after, but some things wouldnt change. Like the mysterious impasse over the locked I, J and K stands - phrases like structural soundness and setback space have been added to our vocabulary, but we are none the wiser; and the murmurs over how Chepauk isnt allotted many international games because N Srinivasan, the former BCCI and ICC boss and president of the host state association, isnt a favourite of the current establishment.There will likely be endless debates on the rights and wrongs of things, but this much is certain: Chennai hasnt been denied the pleasure of hosting a Test match. Not this time.*****Knowledgeable Chennai crowd. The phrase is cliché to a point where it is best used as a hashtag at the end of a snarky punchline. However, more than the knowledgeable part, its Chepauks remarkably non-partisan approach to consuming cricket that has been fascinating.As a ten-year-old, I was in thrall of Wasim Akram, Saeed Anwar and Saqlain Mushtaq during That Test in 1999. A cousin and I were the only people in the stands who wildly cheered Sachin Tendulkars dismissal in the second innings, even adding for good measure: Jeetega bhai jeetega, Pakistan jeetega (Pakistan will emerge victorious). But, instead of any hostility - it helped we were children - all we got were benign smiles. The shared appreciation of Akrams perseverance and Mushtaqs wiles eventually culminated in a most gracious ovaation from the crowd after Pakistans thrilling heist.dddddddddddd.But I have never watched a Test match from the stands of Chepauk in the post-IPL era. There was the India-England game in December 2008 when Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh masterfully gunned down a total of 387, but the IPL was still in its infancy then. Having watched quite a few Chennai Super Kings games since, fan partisanship - as you would expect in the IPL - has become a lot fiercer, especially against big-ticket rivals like Royal Challengers Bangalore or Mumbai Indians.It is also not uncommon to see Indian fans remain aloof to the visiting teams successes these days. In Mohali, for instance, during the recent India-New Zealand ODI, the crowd turned mute whenever New Zealand scored runs or took wickets. There was curiosity to see which Chennai fan would turn up for the first-day, first-show of this Test match - the archetypal cricket tragic or the CSK die-hard.As R Ashwin had predicted ahead of the match, the decibel levels hit the roof whenever he made contact with the ball, while M Vijay, the other local boy, duly received his share of applause as well. The crowd, having nicely warmed up, revved up their vocal chords once England lost their openers within the first hour in the morning. Joe Root, however, was quickly changing the narrative - when he cracked a square cut and a late steer off a yorker, the claps were just as resounding.A number of characters that form the staple at a Chepauk Test could be found. There was the middle-aged gentleman jumping up and down, and calling out players by their nicknames - Ash…Ash, Cooky - and waving his hand furiously, hoping to catch their attention. There were the pundits - a father and son, and two elderly gentlemen - who were animatedly dissecting Amit Mishras lack of bite and Roots ability to pick the length - respectfully. With India making more than one DRS referral, they had more than one occasion to debate the merits of the umpires call.And then there were the group of youngsters that countered the Barmy Armys singing with a fired-up rendition of the chant that is unmistakably Chennai, and Chepauk: Gumthalakadi gala gala gala, hoo haa, hoo haa.But, as the afternoon wore on and Root, Mooen Ali and Jonny Bairstow piled on the runs, each landmark was celebrated with a standing ovation. Once Moeen completed his hundred, both Indian and English fans rose spontaneously to hail his effort and didnt take their seats for the next couple of minutes. By the time the days play neared its conclusion, a few local fans had already exchanged numbers with their English counterparts and promised to keep in touch.Surely, there will be no let-up in the Gumthalakadi... chants , and they will only grow louder over the weekend. Just as relentless will be those eager enquiries about Yorkshire cricket or Haseeb Hameed. The cricket-crazy ghost of the Chepauk past is alive and well. ' ' '