As Chennai Super Kings beats Punjab Kings at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai by 18 runs, thanks to the first hattrick of the IPL by the forgotten pace battery L Balaji and blistering knock by Chennai's adoped captain and Jharkhand's Hero MS Dhoni well supplemented by chennai's own son Badrinath's well compiled half century, we have a chance to go back and think if the IPL is finally able to infuse the loyalities in the cricket fans for their local teams?
Looking at the enthusiasm of the fans and the kind of placards they put on display, I believe it is slowly slowly catching up. We have also seen Dravid not being acknowleded and cheered for his boundaries in Bombay already. In today's match too, when Yuvraj singh was cleaned, the roar of the crowd was so intense as if they were celebrating dismissal of Ricky Ponting in an India Australia match. I do not know how the international stars might be coping with this sudden change of loyalties by their own fans but this is definitely good for the future of IPL and it seems IPL is on good track.
This observation is eye catching because for a team that has its coach, captain and as many as half of the team members from not the same soil, receiving this amount of fan loyality is something extraordinary. In my opinion this may be attributed the maturity and the love for the game of the Chennai cricket fans. A good cricket, a good bowling spell, murderous big sixes contribute more towards team loyalities than just the "Sun of the soil" factor.
Observing the halla bol going on in one of the most developed states of India on the related subject lines of "Son of the soil" by Raj Thakrey Vs the UP and Bihar, It is so pleasing to feel that cricket is such a good leveler of Nationality among indians. In this respect, I believe the world of cricket which ofcourse comprises all sort of its fans is much more mature, well behaved, loyal and responsible.
This article has also been published on www.cricweed.com
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