Club loyalties: Can cricket follow football's lead?

KKR fans boycotting club matches when the ageing Ganguly was left out was a bad example of club loyalty

I just happened to watch what some say as the greatest European Champion’s League final, i.e. the one in 2005. Liverpool staged a comeback which has very few parallels in the sporting world. As a cricket fan, I will always divert to the phenomenal test match at Kolkata in 2001; but then again that is an international match, not a club/province game. Despite the fact that the sport is officially played in 132 nations, cricket’s popularity is polarised to very few countries. I firmly believe that popularity can be enhanced both commercially and in terms of the sport by building a robust club structure in each country. With due regard to all the accusations of player burnout in the wake of India’s dismal performance in England, I would request all to differentiate between the cause of club level popularity with poor man management.

At the end of the 2005 final, a tearful Steven Gerrard said that the game was won by the fans who had saved for months and travelled to Istanbul to watch the game. Liverpool Football Club has without doubt one of the largest and by far the most loyal fan base across the globe for any sporting club. Call it the modern day mania or marketing gimmicks but sporting merchandise is one of the most prized possessions that people have. Cricket has no parallel like this. I, as a cricket loyalist am dismayed at the exuberance exhibited on social networking sites at a Manchester United winning but not Delhi Daredevils who on Virender Sehwag’s shoulders pulled off a sensational win over the Deccan Chargers the day Manchester United sealed the EPL trophy last season. In my opinion, the feat that the Nawab of Najafgarh pulled off was no less for a cricket fan. Looking at the poor response from the public to the fourth edition of the Indian Premier League and the Champions League T20 this year, one feels why doesn’t such mania transcend to domestic cricket in India.

I know, it is a very bad example but then, when was the last time you heard a cricket ‘fan’ tell you that he followed a Ranji Trophy match. I doubt that 90% of fans who swear their allegiance to Sachin Tendulkar in Mumbai would not know that he holds a privileged record in India of scoring centuries in both the innings of a Ranji Trophy final for them. Blame the BCCI for not infusing money in the Ranji Trophy. Let alone the whites but then fans do not follow even List A games with the same zest. India would probably be the only cricket playing nation that has two domestic T20 leagues with the IPL and the domestic Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy. The latter is a tournament which half of this cricket crazy nation would not be aware of. There needs to be some sense of following at some level for domestic cricket in India. The IPL grants a wonderful opportunity for such loyalty in the form of city based franchises. I know that the IPL is very young but, then it is a platform for the sporting fervour and loyalties to grow.

This year, when Sourav Ganguly, finally found a willing franchise to let him play in the IPL, a slew of status messages and tweets from Kolkata fans were seen which would have made Shah Rukh Khan think, whether his franchise needs to lose each year with players that did not fit or should he have taken Ganguly only to keep loyalties from the fan base. I mean did Manchester United lose out on fans because Cristiano Ronaldo chose Real Madrid? The Indian cricket fan needs to build on loyalties for a team and not an individual. The fan needs to realise that in a tournament, it is the team whose ups and downs matter, not an ageing player whose intentions to play have to be questioned. I am not against Sourav Ganguly. He is the architect of the 21st century Indian Cricket Team, but then is he worthy to play now? Should Kolkata Knight Riders not be supported simply because Ganguly now plays in Maratha colours? Club sport allows for a dimension of growth which national teams would not provide. Stars like Keiron Pollard, Imran Tahir, Aiden Blizzard or Alfonso Thomas have less international experience than say a Shakib al Hasan. Does that make their value less as cricketers than the latter? A fan following ensures that players, who do not emerge as successes to adorn their national colours have an audience to play for.

The franchises need to take a leaf out of the book of Royal Challengers Bangalore. They organize seminars for the fans and take their opinions very seriously. It helps the club to bond better with the people that cheer for it and vice-versa. While most sports leagues around the world have seasons that last months, giving time to clubs to connect with their fans is important, given the IPL lasts a mere six weeks. The fans for RCB thus have reasons to come back. The team has grown after a dismal first season and has successfully made it to the Champions Trophy (a spinoff of the UEFA) for the last two years. A substantial chunk of the success must be credited to the fan base whose loyalties do not deter.

While the days of franchise based cricket in India is still new but what is important is that a culture of fan bases needs to be formed. Such, a platform is not unheard of in cricket. England and Australia provide for excellent examples with their domestic T20 leagues. With new leagues mushrooming in every cricket playing nation now, cricket fans need to take tournaments like the Champions Trophy very seriously. It is time, I think that we see some more primetime sporting slots given to Cricket much like Football.

As a part of my effort to this cause I have been supporting the Kings XI Punjab for the last four years zealously. My loyalties have not wavered because Yuvraj Singh moved or that the team finished last in the league, the previous season. I hope I set a decent example.