The Indian Premier League (IPL), by design, doesn’t quite lend itself to European football-like sports fandom. Allegiances are mostly fluid and the emotional connect with a team, even after 16 long years of the tournament, still lacks intensity. This is perhaps because the show is largely controlled by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which believes that periodic auctions that lead to the chopping and changing of outfits are essential to maintain competitive balance.
Few venues have designated home and away stands, and fan songs, if any, are still in the realm of imagination. The locations for the marquee play-off matches are decided even before the teams qualify, further reducing the chances of a partisan crowd-building. In fact, after each contest, the most marketed images are those of rival players sharing a good laugh. The overall desire is thus to sell a high-quality entertainment package every evening, and nothing more.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and its ultra-passionate support base militate against this idea. If galleries at the iconic Chepauk stadium resemble a sea of yellow, games at neutral venues are not without CSK oases. In Bengaluru, one of India’s most cosmopolitan cities, it can be safely said that CSK has as many fans as Royal Challengers Bangalore. People have internalised this to such an extent that journalists in Bengaluru and Ahmedabad, the two venues where I have covered matches, invariably conclude that CSK fans have outnumbered the locals.
