Chennai Super Kings: Time for some Whistle Podu in Maratha land

During the 1970s and 1980s, trains called Football Specials were chartered to ferry fans to away games in England. While it was an attempt to prevent the public property and discomfort to fans from football hooliganism, it generally helped the ardent fans. Talking about these trains, one of the fans had said that there was an element of fun for them.

Now, India has had fan following for football clubs like Mohun Bagan, East Bengal to name a few. But a chartered a train to ferry fans of a particular club is something that I don’t recall in India. So, when the management of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) decided to charter a train to take its fan from Chennai to Pune; it was heartwarming for every person who cares about Indian sports.

IPL’s contribution to city-based fan following in India

Indian Premier League’s (IPL) contribution to city-based fan following in India is well known and CSK’s ever-growing fan base is a shining example of this. CSK along with few other teams would be at the top of the list in terms of fan following among the IPL teams. I got a first-hand experience of this during my MBA days at Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai in 2012. CSK had won a close match and there was an impromptu celebration at the basketball court of the college. A dhol (drum) appeared from nowhere and the CSK theme song started -

Chennai Super Kings’ku Periya Whistle Adinga (Whistle aloud for Chennai Supper Kings)Enga Ooru Chennaiku Periya Whistle Adinga (Whistle aloud for our city Chennai) Enga Thala Dhoni’ku Periya Whistle Adinga (Whistle aloud for our leader Dhoni)

Despite being a Mumbai Indians fan, I really enjoyed the festive atmosphere. It was pretty evident that the people here loved their sports and worshipped the stars. I was reminded of the famous India-Pakistan test match at Chennai in 1999 when the crowd had been sporting enough to cheer the Pakistanis at the end of the match. Back then Sachin Tendulkar was the Thala (leader) and the master had got India close to victory with one of his greatest test centuries. Sachin too loved Chennai and his average of 88.18 in 10 test matches with 5 centuries is a testimony of his love for the city.

Thala MS Dhoni

Dhoni has a big fan following in Chennai

And today their Thala is MS Dhoni. Who could have thought that a player from the Hindi speaking state of Jharkhand could one day have a godly status in the heart of Tamil land? But then, that is what sports is supposed to do; unify people. Historically, cricket has been a unifying factor in India. During the days of the Bombay tournament in the 1920s and 1930s, cricket writer Edward Docker had said, “If ever India is to win communal unity it will be on the cricket fields and cricket fields of Bombay in particular.” I am sure, had he been writing this today; he would have held similar views about Chennai.

Super fans like Saravanan Hari have taken CSK’s fan following to another level. He paints his body in yellow (CSK color) for CSK matches much like Sudhir Kumar Chaudhary used to do it for Sachin and is a hit with the media. Like many Tamilians, Saravanan loves movies; but his love for Dhoni is such that he prefers meeting Dhoni over film stars like Vijay and Ajith. Dhoni himself acknowledges the support and had once said that the fans were CSK’s biggest strength.

“Without the fans, Chennai Super Kings are nothing”

This could be the reason that the management of CSK did not think twice when they were approached by CSK Official Fan Club with a request for few tickets for their home match at Pune. The fans got a ‘Whistlepodu Express’, a train which will in return to take the 1000-odd fans to Pune. Commenting on this, CSK CEO Kasi Vishwanathan had said, “Without the fans, Chennai Super Kings are nothing. This is the least we can do for fans who are loyal to us.”

Fans are an integral part of any sport and such steps by people in the management will go a long way in ensuring that our stadiums are full. We have heard many cases when the fans are taken for granted by the authorities, but such initiatives are a welcome change and will boost sporting culture in the long run. This year, the BCCI has also come up with IPL Fan Parks to bring the game to smaller cities which will not be hosting nay IPL matches.

But for now, let's get set for some whistle podu in the Maratha land of Pune.