Indian Premier League has always been a topic of discussion since the time the league was came into existence in India five years ago. The cricketing world came to a standstill when eight teams from different states of India took the field against each other. The teams included best players from India and had some of the best international players as well. Players came out of their retirement to play in this extravaganza.
With every passing year IPL has grown in stature and its market value has gone up. The league which was started on the footprints of English Premier League has left all the other leagues behind. IPL is the second richest league in the world after NBA and it has left some of the most fancied football leagues behind in terms of the profit making.
Kolkata Knight Riders became the fourth team to win IPL title, Rajasthan Royals won the inaugural season, Deccan Chargers won in South Africa and Chennai Super Kings won it the last two times. Winning IPL is a big deal as the competion is tough and intense and teams do celebrate their titles. But what has happened this season is something different.
It has been three days since KKR defeated CSK to lift the esteemed trophy but the celebrations are still going strong. Players, team management and the owner were supposed to celebrate the win after the match got over, but no one expected them to carry on with the celebrations for so long. What is more interesting to see is that they have found some tremendous support. The victory parade by KKR saw thousands of people celebrating their heros victory.
The city has come to a standstill and the only topic of discussion is how Gautam Gambhir’s men overcame the eight other teams. KKR is a team that has always been in the thick of actions and this was the team that dominated the very first match of the IPL. They had the ‘Prince of Kokata’ – Sourav Ganguly in their team. With Sourav they had one of the biggest stars of Bollywood Shah Rukh Khan as the owner.
But, the team did not do well and they finished in the bottom half. Things did not improve for them as the next two seasons turned out to be even worse. There were some controversies as well. Sourav was sacked from the captaincy and was later not picked in the team after the third season got over. Ganguly has always been the face of this city and it looked very difficult for KKR to get the home support. When Ganguly led Pune Warriors into the Eden Gardens against KKR, he got much more support than the home team. Several comments were made by the owner and the captain of KKR that the Knight Riders is the only team that is playing for the city of Kolkata.
And now when KKR has achieved the target, it looks that the crowd are in sync with KKR captain’s remarks. The complete city is celebrating the win and its looking like a one huge carnival. This victory might give IPL a new dimension all together. Till now the fans supported their favorite stars and there was no such state-wise or regional support for the teams. But, what is happening in Kolkata right now might just give supporters a new way to look at the game. Maybe fans from other states will support their team and can take the tournament to another level. Political parties are getting involved with the win. It’s a scene that was not seen earlier, but it looks like a scene that’s going to be very common in the coming seasons. And if that happens, the motive behind starting the IPL--money and fanbase will be achieved.
By Gaurav Jha
Indian Sports News Network
