Super Kings’ divided kingdom

Cricket mania is on full swing. After the energy-sapping World Cup triumph, the fourth season of the IPL (Indian Premier League) is set to grab the eyeballs of a billion cricket crazy fans in India. Dhoni’s superman efforts in the final have turned his worst detractors into his die-hard fans. But the ‘captain cool’ of the Indian cricket team and the Chennai Super Kings, might not get the unanimous support of Chennaiites when he gets on the field tomorrow.

Yes, it’s true. A small section of Chennaiites will be supporting other IPL teams in the fray. Reasons range from differing loyalties to favourite cricketers (Sachin and his Mumbai Indians lead the pack here), and hometowns. In some cases, there are people who believe that CSK captain MS Dhoni’s success is more due to his Midas touch than his performances on the field. Another reason for this thin lack of support to CSK is the popularity of Shah Rukh Khan, who owns the franchise, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). As it is difficult to choose your favourite cricketer among the many playing in different IPL teams, it makes sense to extend full support to your favourite actor’s team, (in this case — KKR), fans say. However, it is found that a majority of Chennaiites are loyal to CSK, more so after Dhoni’s heroics in the final, — where it had neither the distraction of Bollywood glamour nor the love for other cricketers, dismantling the support to the local team.