CHENNAI: If Chennai’s IPL fans, an overwhelming majority of whom hold up the Chennai Super Kings as their very own, are to be believed, the IPL has just come to an end — atleast for the next two years. A sentiment aptly conveyed by the #NoCSKNoIPL hashtag that began trending on Twitter within minutes of the SC’s verdict.
While disappointment ran rampant, with many declaring that they had no reason to watch the IPL any longer, defiance coloured most opinions. Take Naveen Krishnan who said that with “CSK no longer likely to be the dominant force on the IPL, other teams would finally have an opportunity to win” or Nivedha Raman with her flat “People rejoicing on the suspension are more happy about not having to contend with Dhoni and Raina on one team than they are with any victory over corruption.”
For die-hard fans, defiance seems to be how they are dealing with the blow. Others however were more circumspect. “I wouldn’t want to say anything about other teams’ fans, but without CSK I will no longer watch the IPL. My friends aren’t likely to watch it any longer either. The IPL is going to lose a large chunk of its audience from the Tamil Nadu,” said Koushik K S.
The disappointment also seems to be fueled by a rather deeply buried but strong belief that the team would pull through anything thrown at it — including the Supreme Court. “I never expected this to happen. I thought they would pull through. I was hoping that Kundra and Meiyyapan would have the book thrown at them but I thought CSK would come through unscathed,” said Jerome Mathew.
Well, the CSK doesn’t seem to have pulled through and while the large majority are looking at it as a black day, there are some who believe that this was the best that could have happened. Yes, I’m talking about Chennai’ites. Those like Rahul Ravi for example. “Any one who won through nefarious means deserves this. There’s no point in saying it wasn’t the team, just some corrupt officials. You have to take collective responsibility. This is the best that could have happened,”he said.
That might well be, but for the thousands of CSK’s die hard fans, Tuesday was a black, black day.