Mumbai Indians play their fourth match of the IPL season today, and it will be interesting to see if a few days’ gap will cool down the emotions of the fans, who have been giving new captain Hardik Pandya a tough time.
Rohit Sharma is a very popular skipper, his status immensely enhanced by what he has been able to achieve with the national side. The way India made a stirring comeback in the Test series against England, with several first-choice players missing, had a lot to do with Sharma’s leadership. He also led from the front as India steamrolled through the 50-over World Cup before coming unstuck in the final. Hardik clearly had huge boots to fill.
The pitch was queered further as he seemed to be parachuted straight back from another franchise, whose fan base was peeved at the perceived ‘betrayal’. That Hardik returned to his original team as captain, without the owners or team management making it very clear why the change was made, didn’t help matters either.
As a result, from Ahmedabad to Hyderabad to Mumbai, the boos have got louder and the chants nastier, even though the trolls may not be able to explain what’s their exact beef with Hardik. The smile and stoic demeanour have not left his face, at least in public, but seem forced.
It hasn’t helped that Mumbai Indians have lost their first three matches and Hardik himself has hardly distinguished himself with bat, ball or in the field. Some of his captaincy calls have also had experts scratching their heads, and sometimes he does seem to cut a lonely figure on the ground.
Admittedly, a good performance or two, or a few wins, will get the Mumbai Indians support base onside. Fans are a fickle lot, and the five-time IPL champions have gone on to win titles despite bad starts before.
The cardinal sin
But, what really explains this rude behavior towards Hardik? It can probably be explained in one word: Ambition. Mumbai Indians wanted him back, with some sort of succession planning in mind, and were ready to reward him handsomely for it. It was an offer too tempting to refuse, from a cricketing as well as monetary aspect. However, the timing was a bit off, with Sharma’s popularity at an all-time high. Add to it the fact that Hardik has rarely turned out for India in the recent past, walking off injured at the World Cup too, but seems to regain fitness by the time the IPL comes along.
Those trolling Hardik for making a lucrative career move may have never switched jobs to enhance their career prospects. In an age when ambition and ruthlessness are deemed to be virtues in the cut-throat corporate set-up, it seems precious to chide a cricketer for adhering to those values. After all, a career span for an athlete at the top level is short, and there is only a small window to optimize their earning potential. Hardik would know that his body may let him down anytime, so may find it prudent to make hay while the sun shines.
However, looking at the bigger picture, the founding fathers of the IPL may allow themselves a little smile, even if commentator Sanjay Manjrekar asking the Wankhede crowd booing Hardik at the toss to ‘behave’.
When the IPL was launched in 2008, one of the concerns would have been how fan following based on international rivalries will react to a franchise set-up, which is not organic in nature, with player turnover at a high frequency. With pan-India appeal of the biggest cricketing stars, how will city-based identities be developed?
Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru have die-hard followers, but they are more of personality cults than team fan bases. Those who flock to the stadiums were more interested in a ‘darshan’ of the deity than in the fortunes of the team. The loyalty was unquestioned.
Fans care
But the whole Pandya episode shows that after more than a decade and a half of its existence, people now care and don’t consider IPL as mere entertainment. People care about who is the captain of the team they follow. They are ready to express their displeasure over the decisions of the team owners and management. Towards that end, if someone has to be made into a pantomime villain, for no apparent fault, so be it.
Make no mistake, the interest around the IPL is still largely individual-based. With the T20 World Cup soon after, most of the talk is around who will make the selection cut based on IPL performances, not which teams are favourites to go all the way. The teams with the biggest fan bases are ones with larger-than-life players or even co-owners. Those franchises have the biggest valuations, even if they are not too successful on the pitch. It’s still some way from reaching the levels seen in club football, where the fans often demand the ouster of managers or even owners.
The biggest football clubs in the world are global entities, but have their foundations in a defined physical area where they were founded and which they represent. They have a history that sometimes goes back to more than a century. The IPL teams are franchises, not clubs, and their following is more diffused. Non-international games also don’t always provoke that much passion, so the loyalties have to be generated, and personalities are the most obvious device to do it.
It remains to be seen how the rest of the season pans out for Hardik and Mumbai Indians. One wonders whether the strong fan reaction has made the decision-makers wonder whether they made the right call. Whether franchises now listen to fan groups on vital matters will be an interesting watch.
It’s an interesting period in the life of the IPL. Sharma, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Virat Kohli can’t go on forever. Transitions have to take place sooner or later. Whether the franchises stick to their icons in some prominent non-playing role or carve an independent path will show whether the league will turn into a competition where winning and losing decides a team’s standing.
