The ladies have their daily doses of Saas-Bahu serials to watch. Come IPL season the men also have their version of daily soap to watch. But unlike in the saas-bahu serials where the audience know which character to support (the character who sheds more tears gets more supporters, also the background music helps the audience to choose a character to support), in IPL it is very difficult for a thinking male audience to choose which team to cheer. For example think of a person staying in Lonavla (it is a hill station in between Mumbai and Pune), when a match between Mumbai Indians and Pune Warriors happen whom does he/she support? The problem is further compounded in case of MI and PWI because they have smartly put the word Indians in the team name, so that they can cater both regional and national sentiments. On the other end think of a person in states like Madhya Pradesh which does not have an IPL franchise representing them, which team they cheer for? Now some people cheer for their favourite player. They dont care which team he is playing. Many KKR loyals have changed their loyalties from KKR to PWI after Sourav was rejected by KKR and accepted by PWI. So in both the perspective, teams have fickle minded supporters. There is a third perspective as well,namely, the fan following or investors of the owner of the team. Probably they are the consistent supporters.
Comming to a specific case of the above dilema, is the match between KKR and PWI on 5th May 2012. For those who support KKR just because it has the name Kolkata think for a moment. Why cannot we support PWI? Apart from Sourav it has Ashok Dinda, Anustup Majumdar, Deep Dasgupta(operations, PWI) and Subroto Roy(owner). All of them very much represent Bengal and have Bengali roots, though it is based in Pune. On the other hand KKR have limited members with whom people of Kolkata connect. In fact I would have included Steve Waugh(he is a patron of Udayan) if he was in PWI despite of his Australian nationality. No comments for those who support KKR because of SRK(probably they can goto multiplex instead of eden gardens). KKR have members who represent Bengal/East zone in domestic cricket, but almost nobody follows domestic cricket and thus the audience lack associativity with them.
Most people know the teams and players are playing for money and not because that cricketer is representing his region. Despite all these still people watch and take interest in IPL. Just like the ladies who know how unworthy the saas-bahu serials are but still watch them.
Having said all these, IPL has the potential to be a platform where youths from far away corner of India can connect with the Indian mainland, very much like reality shows like 'Indian Idol' and 'India got talents' have done by expanding their area of operations and encouraging youth from militants infested area not to pick up guns but join mainstream society through arts and music. I am eager to see a team from Guwahati, Srinagar and Chattisgarh. Private companies while investing in them should not expect profit in first few year though.
Comming to a specific case of the above dilema, is the match between KKR and PWI on 5th May 2012. For those who support KKR just because it has the name Kolkata think for a moment. Why cannot we support PWI? Apart from Sourav it has Ashok Dinda, Anustup Majumdar, Deep Dasgupta(operations, PWI) and Subroto Roy(owner). All of them very much represent Bengal and have Bengali roots, though it is based in Pune. On the other hand KKR have limited members with whom people of Kolkata connect. In fact I would have included Steve Waugh(he is a patron of Udayan) if he was in PWI despite of his Australian nationality. No comments for those who support KKR because of SRK(probably they can goto multiplex instead of eden gardens). KKR have members who represent Bengal/East zone in domestic cricket, but almost nobody follows domestic cricket and thus the audience lack associativity with them.
Most people know the teams and players are playing for money and not because that cricketer is representing his region. Despite all these still people watch and take interest in IPL. Just like the ladies who know how unworthy the saas-bahu serials are but still watch them.
Having said all these, IPL has the potential to be a platform where youths from far away corner of India can connect with the Indian mainland, very much like reality shows like 'Indian Idol' and 'India got talents' have done by expanding their area of operations and encouraging youth from militants infested area not to pick up guns but join mainstream society through arts and music. I am eager to see a team from Guwahati, Srinagar and Chattisgarh. Private companies while investing in them should not expect profit in first few year though.
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