Hundreds of people from the Tamil film industry, businesses, and politics came to the Chennai Trade Center in 2008 for the launch of the new jerseys of the Chennai Super Kings. In the evening, there were acrobatics by a Taiwanese couple and laser effects by a Russian artist in the evening, as well as popular singers belting out hit songs. Mahendra Singh Dhoni was dressed in a simple off-white T-shirt and grey jeans, and he was lying on a sofa watching all the drama.
A boyish grin flashed across his face as he waited for the jersey to be shown. As soon as Dhoni put on his new jersey over his white T-shirt, the host said: “By the end of your time here, you will be talking to the fans in Tamil.” Thank you for coming. ”
When a cricketer and the fans of a team start to get close, it can be very emotional. This is how the CSK thalai (leader) came to be. There was also the idea that the hero, because he or she is a local, is more relatable to the general public.
A cricket player called Dhoni was going to break another myth and make one of his own. With both his success and charisma and the way he looks and acts, he was going to do that. There was a time when CSK was the best team in the Indian Premier League because they had a good business plan and were the most efficient team. They mocked templates and ripped up patterns to get success.
A decade after the first game, most franchises have let go of their desire to find local players. They now know that success and being able to connect with fans are more important. It doesn’t matter where the cricketers are from or who they play for. People can connect with them emotionally, no matter what. That means franchises have moved away from regional identities and tried to connect with people across the country, which is a step in their development. Part of it was because they realised that even though they had the name of a city or a state, they didn’t represent it.
A club is an independent group that isn’t tied to a specific region or tradition. So, the Delhi Capitals aren’t worried about getting one of the best cricketers from the city, Virat Kohli, because he’s not going to play for them. The team that Kohli plays for didn’t want to get Devdutt Padikkal, one of the best young players in India, or KL Rahul. At the Ranji Trophy this year, Mumbai-based Shreyas Iyer will lead his state team. He has played all of his cricket in Mumbai, where he lives.
The same person has also led Delhi and will lead Kolkata Knight Riders this season, which are both teams from the same group of teams. This has been the case with Rahul, too. He led the Punjab Kings and then the Lucknow Supergiants. The other didn’t care about Suresh Raina. Hardik Pandya was chosen as the captain of the Gujarat Titans because he is from Baroda, even though he is technically from Gujarat.
But the Titans had no desire to sign Cheteshwar Pujara or Jaydev Unadkat. It’s only 19 out of 250 players who play for a team from their state or city. This is what the first season looked like.
The number was 46. (Out of 200). One person who comes from Mumbai is Rohit Sharma, who is a great captain for the Mumbai Indians. But when he retires, it’s not certain that they will pick someone from the city to be captain. The death of localism was inevitable because club culture in the country is mostly a thing in cities.
Dhoni and CSK just caused it to die. But CSK owners thought that was not the case. They were mostly thinking about business because they were good businessmen. There was a time when team owner N Srinivasan told a storey about why he didn’t buy any Icon players. They had to pay the icon 10% more than the highest-paid player in the auction. Dhoni was the most expensive player at the auction, so this helped them when they tried to bid on the most expensive player.
At any price, MS Dhoni. If the Mumbai Indians knew they would have to pay Sachin $1.65 million and MS Dhoni $1.5 million, they knew they would have to pay both of them. The purse was $5 million, and 60% of the purse would go to these two players. So, they stopped, and that’s how we got Dhoni, because Srinivasan said, “I don’t want an icon.” Dhoni was a good bet on many levels. He was young, had just led the team to victory in the first ICC World T20 as captain, and had just been given full control of the national team. He was the most popular person in the country, and his stocks were rising.
However, most of the players who were known as “iconic” had trouble at the end of their careers. That year, Ganguly was going to retire. At first, Laxman couldn’t quite break the T20 batting code; Dravid tried, but only Tendulkar and Sehwag, two of the most famous cricketers, were able to do well in T20s. It wasn’t until the end of the first season that most icons had become a burden on their teams. When the 2010 season came around, only Sachin and Sehwag were still playing for their teams.
Dhoni has changed the idea of an IPL hero so much that every team wants a Dhoni of their own. RCB thought they had found one in Kohli. Before long, he was the best batsman for India in all kinds of games. That Dhoni was more successful than Kohli could also be a reason. Kohli didn’t win any silverware for RCB while he was there, and he was mostly known for his batsmanship. To win people over, you need to be a winner. Dhoni has led his team to four IPL victories and two Champions League victories, so he knows how to do that.
Published By: JAINAM SHETH
Edited By : KHUSHI THAKUR
