How to Become an IPL Team Fan in Four Easy Steps
by Devanshu Mehta
Ducking Beamers* wonders how to become a fan of an IPL team– the teams changed drastically year-over-year, there are only weak city-based ties and some teams are just plain bad:
This is my major problem with the IPL: why should I support one franchise over another?
In my opinion, it’s easy to pick a team. Here are my steps:
- STEP #1: Never root against Sachin Tendulkar.
- STEP #2: Make a list of all the players you love to watch. It doesn’t matter why you love to watch them. Maybe they swear a lot. Maybe they are good-looking. Maybe they slapped a player you hate. Maybe they actually play decent cricket. It does not matter. This is the IPL; the Filmfare Awards of cricket. It’s your license to be absurd.
- STEP #3: Remove all the bowlers from your list. IPL is a batsman’s game. Nobody likes watching the bowlers. Nobody.
- STEP #4: Find the team that has the most players on your list. The IPL is a cult-of-personality event, treat it as such. For me, that team is Kolkata Knight Riders, because it has Shakib, Eoin, tenDo and Yusuf. Kallis and Gambhir are just icing on the cake.
Now you have a team to root for! Wasn’t that easy?
And remember: the IPL is a Twenty20 tournament. Twenty20 is a fickle format, so be a fickle fan. If your team starts to falter, shift your allegiance to a team that actually plays well.
But until you know which team is playing well this year, my four-step program is fool-proof!
* I make it a point to attribute links to the individual who wrote the article, not their institution or company or blog (e.g. Bhogle instead of Cricinfo, Jarrod instead of Cricket with Balls, etc.). Ducking Beamers is not the name of a person, as far as I know. But I don’t know his real name.
Deep Backward Point 
Thanks for the reply. Let me quibble:
1. Sachin Tendulkar’s team — the Mumbai Indians — has yet to win the tournament. And while he’s shown he’s more than capable in this format, his captaincy skills aren’t fool-proof. Compare his visible displays of nerves to Dhoni’s reputed coolness. (Apparently, that’s the secret to success: just look like you’re going to win.)
2. I like Step #2. But 3. is a problem. It’s true; batsmen score quicker in the T20 format, and it’s better not to look at bowler’s econ. rates. That said, we’ve seen some wonderful bowling stints so far — R. Ashwin, anyone? Or even Shane Warne, IPL I? I only wish they allowed bowlers 5 overs, instead of 4.
That said, you have the basic concept right — this is about personalities, not about teams. That’s a tough adjustment though, esp. in a game like cricket. I prefer my teams to have a little more context (a la Rajasthan Royals, IPL I).
Thankfully, my answer was mostly tongue-in-cheek, so your quibbles are valid.
[…] as far as them, I believe it’s an excellent rule-of-thumb. This coming from the guy who just wrote a few blog posts about the IPL. I’m […]
No one likes bowlers? I root for MI not just cause it’s my city team and has SRT but cause it has MALINGAAAAAA – he is a sensational bowler in the shorter versions. Honestly. And as I write this Morkel is messing up with KKR – 2 wickets in 2 balls. And you tell me no one likes bowlers. 🙂
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