Is loyalty the flavour of this IPL season
This Indian Premier League auction had a little(or a lot) of everything starting from Lights- excitement, Camera- disappointment and Auction- shocking outcomes. If you didn’t watch the auctions, you have certainly missed out on realizing how hard teams traded in singing a particular set of players
Before the real action of a heavily packed IPL season gets underway, the makers give us a show of what lies ahead of us. Things seldom turn out to be the way we want and nothing beyond the IPL auction can serve as a better example. If you’re someone who likes conventional ways and not a fan of change, then IPL, or more precisely the IPL auction, is not for you. With twelve seasons of this gigantic and massive celebration done and dusted, we are all, by now, accustomed to the ways of the biggest T20 competition in cricket.
And all through these years, the makers of the league and the one force that governs everything, including any kind of cricket that goes on, have made sure everybody gets a piece out of the cake. If you have been a purist all throughout your life and only watched Test cricket, because that’s real cricket, and ODIs, because that’s the format in which the biggest ICC tournament is played, then you have definitely felt a strong desire to condemn the idea of the T20 format. But after the success of the 2007 T20 World Cup, the inaugural edition of the IPL in 2008 was a huge boost. The T20 format became more familiar than ever and the fans never seem to get over their loyalty. Hence, the success of the biggest T20 league in the world.
Now comes the part that twists the very idea of teams and fans loyalty. Yes, the concept of franchises. One might, honestly I too, wonder how do we support a franchise when they are not our players? After all, these are franchises and not like the teams we support in cricket. But like the Premier League and its system of producing football has always been considered the benchmark for the IPL, the obedient younger brother just follows. That explains the gigantic fan following of all teams. Like, for example, a big part of the pride in watching MS Dhoni lift the cup in 2007 donning the blue jersey was now seen when the Chennai Super Kings became champions in 2010. More than anything, a new loyalty was established. A loyalty that was simultaneously passed on to the teams as a shared responsibility.
If you didn’t watch the IPL auctions this year, you have certainly missed out on realizing how hard the teams have traded in singing a particular set of players. The players that these teams are tied with through the strong twine of loyalty, as do the fans.
Like when you see the Kings XI Punjab go all in for their long-estranged employee Glenn Maxwell, you know it’s the nostalgia surrounding the 2014 edition that rules the decision. Punjab went into a full on bidding war for Maxwell, with a base price of 2 crores, with the Delhi Capitals and emerging victorious by signing him for 10.75 crores.
When the Royal Challengers Bangalore signed Dale Steyn in his third round, it was the team catching up with an old friend who had been with the first season and the last, and for the faith that the fans have in the South African. The Kolkata Knight Riders spending the highest ever overseas bid in IPL history on Pat Cummins, and 5.5 crores on Eoin Morgan, shows their belief in the heroes that could’ve been. Hence, the spirit just gets extended. That’s the spirit of the IPL, a spirit intensified by a significant dash of loyalty.
For every cheer from the crowd adds to the value of the event than any franchise whatsoever. Sure the Chennai Super Kings will enjoy the home warmth at Chepauk, but will a national hero like MS Dhoni not be welcomed by the crowd at, say, Ahmedabad? The IPL history has been witness to the fact that they will. If RCB have another bad season, will the Namma Team RCB not come out to show their loyalty? The players can be scattered amongst teams, but the emotions of the fans, however separated, have all come to the be a part of the one and the only, the Indian Premier League. That’s the spirit we’re talking about. A spirit that will rule the very idea of the upcoming season.
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