For a league that is largely built round the personalities of a handful of players, the marketing and Social Media teams of the IPL (Indian Premier League) franchises must be having nightmares as it enters the halfway stage of its 18th season.
India’s captain Rohit Sharma is having a horror run at Mumbai Indians while Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s Virat Kohli, too, is struggling for form. But it is Chennai Super Kings and their iconic superstar Mahendra Singh Dhoni who are stuck between a rock and a hard place.
For Ranchi-born Dhoni, whose links with the Southern metropolis were practically non-existent before the launch of the IPL in 2008, his iconic status with the franchise, the city and the state has been a remarkable phenomenon. Their beloved thala (head/leader) has rewarded his fans with five titles, barnstorming batting and dazzling displays behind the stumps.
But now, at 43 years old, he is a pale shadow of his former self, and this season has painted a pathetic picture as he seems drained of all energy. His diehard followers have not given up hope as yet of their icon making it to yet another season, but the sight of Dhoni limping on the field has been a heart-breaking one even for neutral fans.
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To be sure, Indian cricket’s personality cult preceded the IPL. Just ask those batsmen who came before Sachin Tendulkar, aka the God of Cricket, to the batting crease. Even the legendary Rahul Dravid had to endure heckling as the crowd waited impatiently for their hero to appear.
But it has been the rapid rise of social media since the IPL launch that has taken things to ridiculous levels. The legions of fans, better known as fanboys, supporting Sharma and Kohli and pitting one against the other have turned the virtual world of Indian cricket into a cesspit of hatred. It is bad enough that this ugliness permeates two months of the league’s summer, but seeing the toxicity leach into the rest of the year, when the Indian national team plays red ball and white ball cricket, is deeply disturbing.
From its very launch, the IPL ad campaigns pitted fans of one franchise against another. That is perhaps part and parcel of any sporting league worldwide. However, to witness Sharma fans calling for Kohli to fail and vice versa, while both are donning national colours, is carrying this obsession with favourites too far.
Kohli and Sharma both bowed out of T20 internationals after India won the T20 World Cup last year, while Dhoni quit international cricket in 2019. The T20 format, however, with its minimum fitness requirements, is an ideal post-retirement sinecure for professional cricketers.
Whether MI, RCB and CSK will find icons, both in the real and virtual sense, to replace this trio though, is something best left to the backroom boys and girls.
