So what is the supporter of an IPL team supporting? His city or the team or one of its players? Each fan has his own reasons. To many at an IPL venue, it is just about an evening of fun, about soaking in the fairground atmosphere. But there is a place for the IPL in the Indian cricket fan’s mind. Teams that have made an effort to maintain continuity and win local fans over have reaped the rewards.
In the summer of 1990, Fiorentina sold Roberto Baggio to Juventus, triggering riots in Florence that left at least 50 people injured. The clubs shared an animosity that preceded this transfer — “We’d rather be second than thieves,” Fiorentina were already singing — but things went really sour after Baggio’s move. Sol Campbell’s move to Arsenal from Tottenham Hotspur, after running down his contract and leaving on a free without warning, will never be forgiven. Luis Figo famously had a pig’s head thrown at him at the Camp Nou after he moved from Barcelona to Real Madrid. And Arsenal fans circulated fake 20 pound notes with Ashley Cole’s face on them when he arrived at the Emirates Stadium as a Chelsea player.
YET THERE WAS BARELY a murmur when Yuvraj Singh moved from Kings XI Punjab, where he was an ‘icon’ player in his home State, to Pune Warriors in 2011. This season, Yuvraj is turning out for his fifth IPL side in nine seasons, but there has been no out-pouring of anger or grief. After six years of representing his hometown side Delhi Daredevils, Virender Sehwag joined Kings XI Punjab in 2014. But there was no uproar, no outrage.
TO COMPARE EUROPEAN football clubs over a century old, with established fan-bases, to an eight year-old T20 league is unfair. Take the case of Barcelona, a club that became a vehicle for expression of the Catalan identity, or that of one of the many Premier League clubs in England that have working-class roots and were built by the community. How can a Sunrisers Hyderabad engender that same feeling of ownership and pride? How can Kolkata Knight Riders evoke the same passion as Mohun Bagan — a club that played a role in the Indian freedom movement — in a Mariners’ fan?
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der April 23, 2016-Ausgabe von Sportstar.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der April 23, 2016-Ausgabe von Sportstar.
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