Dilemma: Support favourite IPL Team or favourite Team India player?
Support favourite IPL Team or favourite Team India player?
By Nishad Pai Vaidya
Within a week of India’s triumphant campaign in the 2011 World Cup, the players have headed into different directions of the country to wear different colour and play a different kind of cricket – the T20 action in the Indian Premier League.
The Indian players who shed blood, sweat and tears as a unified team for the national team had to quickly end their celebrations and find themselves facing each other as opponents in a game that is as emotional, if not more than the World Cup.
I have been an ardent fan of Sachin Tendulkar and, it’s natural, my support is for the Mumbai Indians. The fact that he plays for my city, makes Mumbai Indians my automatic choice to support in the IPL.
However, as passionate fan of Team India fan, I do face distressing moments during the IPL. An incident from the last edition comes to my mind quite often. Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians were playing an important game at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
Batting first, Chennai were looking to get the runs on the board when, in the process of accelerating, Mahendra Singh Dhoni lost his wicket. My first reaction was, “Oh no, Dhoni is out!” Then I realized that he is in the other team! It put me in a spot as I couldn’t celebrate the dismissal of the Indian captain even though it was a crucial wicket for the team I support!
This wasn’t the only occasion when I was put in a spot; there were many similar instances during the last three seasons. Such a thing also happened when Mumbai played Kings XI Punjab during the last season and Yuvraj Singh was dismissed, I didn’t even smile. Yuvraj was going through a really tough time and I wanted him to get back to form before the World T20 in the Caribbean. As he walked back, I felt really bad, although I knew the importance of the wicket for my team, Mumbai Indians.
When I discussed this with a few of my friends and acquaintances, they said they faced similar situations. A friend from Delhi told me that during the Delhi Daredevils vs Mumbai Indians game at the Feroz Shah Kotla, the crowd cheered for Tendulkar, as if he was a member of the home team. When he got out, there were no major celebrations from the Kotla crowd.
Another friend of mine, who is an ardent Rajasthan Royals fan, said that when Tendulkar, Yuvraj and Dhoni bat against his favorite team, he cheers whenever they hit boundaries.
Since the inception of the IPL, I have come across several fans who live in one particular state or city but support a team representing another city that has their favorite India player in their squad. Their main motivation to watch the IPL is the presence of that particular player whom they support and idolize.
What this tells us is that we are Team India fans first and IPL team fans later. We are so used to seeing these players play for India that their failure against our favorite team in the IPL does not excite us. The fact remains that the Team India players will always be “our” players and when they play for franchises we don’t support, we don’t seem them as our opponents.
The IPL is a great concept and has helped Indian cricket in many ways. However, fans would always consider their national team and its players at a higher footing when compared to the franchise of their choice. This is a good sign as the National Team should always be of paramount importance to fans.
As Mumbai Indians fan, I want my team to win, but I dearly wish that all members of Team India enjoy a successful IPL, irrespective of the team they play for. Wishful thinking one may say, but that is what the heart of an Indian fan says!
(Nishad Pai Vaidya, a 20-year-old law student, is a club and college-level cricketer. His teachers always complain, “He knows the stats and facts of cricket more than the subjects we teach him.”)
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