INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE 2018

The allure of CSK

by Kaushik Rangarajan • Last updated on

CSK, back on the field, after two long years © BCCI

Whoa, tie a yellow ribbon 'round the ole oak tree

It's been three long years, do you still want me?

If I don't see a ribbon round the ole oak tree

I'll stay on the bus, forget about us, put the blame on me

If I don't see a yellow ribbon 'round the ole oak tree

For a former India captain well acquainted and famously unstirred by the emotional upheavels of the role, it was a surprisingly poignant moment. At the Chennai Super Kings event, the 'quintessentially cool' MS Dhoni detached himself from his sobriquet for a bit. Holding back tears, he spoke about CSK's two-year suspension: "What's important is we go through everything with a smile on your face." A long pause followed as the audience that had been caught off-guard allowed Dhoni to gather himself. But this was still Dhoni, a practical man by self admission with a self imposition on treating sport's two imposters alike. He quickly composed himself by making the rest of the speech about the present and the future. "What's next is what is important for us. We're back! We're back!"

As applause broke through, Suresh Raina walked over to offer his captain a bottle of water. When this video clip made its way into social media, thousands of hearts swelled with pride. #Thala and #CSKReturns traded top spots in the Twitter trends. Ahead of an uncertain season ahead, nostalgia seemed a great place to take refuge in. It is said that the internet is anyway 74% nostalgia, 18% porn and 8% nostalgic porn. But the sequence of events was unprecedented in IPL's history.

A day before this official event, hundreds of the aforementioned Twitterati had taken pains to wait outside the Park Sheraton hotel in Alwarpet. A young boy, accompanied by his elder sister, had laid out an A4-sized banner of the 2018 squad of CSK, proclaiming: "PRIDE" - the very notion of the club that was shabbily betrayed by the influence-peddling antics of an 'enthusiastic' Gurunath Meiyappan, the now departed and disgraced team principal.

But all that had been the past, quickly forgotten. Comebacks are never easy and much depended on the 10 days between then and the start of a new season. But this was CSK's great homecoming. When the team stepped out on to their open-top bus (yes, for a practice session), whistles rang loud around the neighbourhood. Bikers lined up on either side of the TTK Road, and then accosted the players all the way through Beach Road until the team bus turned left towards Chepauk and into the MA Chidambaram Stadium where stricter security arrangements were in place. When the squad re-emerged at the playing arena, there were close to 10,000 people in the stands out to see a practice session.

Forget the ribbon, the 'ole oak tree was draped in yellow!

***

To understand this fanaticism, it is important to look beyond the two championships and the six finals (in eight seasons) that CSK have enjoyed. In terms of titles won, Kolkata Knight Riders have just as many while Mumbai Indians sneaked ahead with their third win last year. Yet neither franchise can claim to have a fan base as emotionally invested in the team.

Neither KKR nor MI's fanbase was built as organically as CSK's was. The Super Kings don't have the glitz and the Reliance machinery operating behind them nor the swag and the mass appeal of a Shah Rukh Khan. What CSK managed, by sheer happy accident, was to ensure the traditions, the ethnicity, the inherent South Indian conservatism were all retained through the fabric of the franchise.

When the IPL got underway in 2008, the CSK franchise didn't go to town with a barrage of fan engagement and promotional activity. They were in fact one of the more conservative franchises, but not for the want of money or resources. It is in many ways the virtues of their image of flying under the radar, a reflection of the kind of company that is India Cements. What the franchise instead opted to do was allow the Tamil persona emerge from a populace that anyway loved its cricket. Despite not having an "icon" player from home, the fans readily lapped up a Ranchi-born World T20-winning Indian captain as one of their own.

How?

Social anthropologist Hari Krishnan explains that an important part of this inherent Chennai-ness is a disposition towards hero worship that may sometimes hinge on the irrational. "There is something about the Tamil persona that makes it receptive and susceptible to the influence of the personality cult. The city prides itself in adopting an "outsider" and then adulating and adoring him/her as one of its own. Some of the biggest cultural icons of Tamil Nadu - the late MG Ramachandran, J. Jayalalitha - both actors and former chief ministers of the state, actor Rajinikanth arrived in Tamil Nadu and were beneficiaries of this outpouring of love."

And so, despite possessing no tangible connect in a "my city versus yours" structure, as on-field success came, Dhoni was quickly elevated to the status of Thala - the leader, the alpha male with no equals. UP-boy Suresh Raina, the team's star batsman, became the Chinna Thala - the lieutenant, the heir apparent. Michael Hussey, Matthew Hayden and Makhaya Ntini gained cult status, at times relegating even the state players - the Vijays and the Badrinaths - to a lower rung of popularity.

Dhoni reserves an adulation that only film superstars enjoy in Chennai ©BCCI

Unsurprisingly, the word Thala in urban Tamil pop culture has its roots in the film industry. Cinema, a platform used by politicians since the start of the Dravidian movement to propagate their ideology, continues to design trends across various spheres of life in the state. It is no surprise that chief ministers of state M Karunanidhi and the aforementioned MG Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa all leveraged their popularity as film stars to fuel their political ambitions, with several others including Rajnikanth and Kamal Haasan recently treading down that same path.

The cultural themes of Tamil cinema have made long-lasting impacts on Tamil society, particularly on content consumerism. Many of 'Superstar' Rajinikanth's hits through the 90s, the likes of Arunachalam and Padayappa, had fairly similar underlying themes. They began with the protagonist, Rajni, enjoying a position of respect, before being afflicted by a family conflict. He would hit rock bottom in life from where he would resurrect in all-conquering style in the second half.

Whether by accident or design, the CSK fans have often found comfort in drawing parallels to these narratives. When IPL began in 2008, CSK got off the blocks with four straight victories before Hussey and Hayden left for national duty. Fortunes plummeted with their departure, with three losses on the bounce threatening to derail a promising campaign. Then they scrapped their way in the second half to eventually play the final.

This Rajini thread has run through the IPL history, through their infamous suspension and till the most-recent clash against Mumbai Indians. It needed a near-human effort from 84 for 6 by Dwayne Bravo to resurrect a hopeless chase. Classic Rajini.

It is curious to note, however, that when the concept of IPL was mooted, eminent political satirist and film personality, the late Cho Ramaswamy had nudged Rajinikanth to buy the Chennai franchise, an opportunity the actor recently regretted passing on. It was perhaps best for the franchise to not have a big social figure outside the ground as evidenced by the franchise quickly moving on from a failed concept of team ambassadors (film stars Vijay and Trisha Krishnan).

Perhaps, the biggest success of brand CSK is reflective in how it has carved out its own place in the city's pop culture alongside the ever-popular film fraternity. There are regular references to the team in several mainstream commercial cinema to the point where a film was titled C.S.K (but had nothing to do with the team). It was a testament to the team's immense recall value and social impact. In fact, as several theatre owners have conceded, over the years, CSK has competed very successfully with cinema in becoming a staple summer entertainment in Chennai.

Perhaps the biggest vote of CSK's position came a week before their much-awaited return. Dhoni received the highest levels of adulation, a gesture usually accorded to the biggest of film stars, when members of the CSK fan army reverentially bathed a cut-out poster of their captain in milk. One 'devotee' in question, Vignesh Manivannan, when interviewed by a local TV channel ascribed his deed to Dhoni's gratitude to CSK during the launch ceremony of Rising Pune Supergiant in 2016. It's a full-fledged, sappy, love story.

***

It is not to say that CSK came to be what is as a matter of chance. Perhaps India Cements's biggest achievement has been to allow the franchise brand to grow organically and not overwhelm it in the name with a PR overdose. The overdone Twitter banter in Tamil involving Imran Tahir and Harbhajan Singh that has been the subject of much online trolling had been steered clear of.

The team name Chennai Super Kings by itself seemed to lack spark, and as senior marketing manager Atul Kharbanda says, even reeked of a lack of imagination from the owners. But charmingly enough, the naming worked itself into a win-win scenario. Not only did it help with the cross branding of the Super King cements, it played on an important Chennai emotion - simplicity.

"Superb is synonymous with excellence while Super is simply something above normal. It is a typically understated Tamil emotion but one that resonates with the average fan. Super can refer to anything from the morning filter coffee to a delicately played dab to third man for single. It merges beautifully with the Roaring Lion insignia - a symbol of power, the king of the jungle. It is also a throwback to the Pallava dynasty of ancient Tamil Nadu, that bore the lion on its flag. It's a common occurrence across the ancient temples of Tamil Nadu. Lionizing someone very much lends itself to hero worship.

"The inherent simplicity of the Whistle Podu campaign or the 'Filter Kapi' challenges also stay true to the personality of Chennai. Maintaining traditions thus creates identity and an aspirational value. Little children want to play for CSK some day and that's a massive branding success," Kharbanda says.

The owners also resisted from the need to outwardly pander to the masses. There were suggestions to perhaps use black, a prominent Dravidian colour, for their team jerseys but they stuck to shades of yellow and blue, the colours in which India Cements sides have usually played with in league cricket. A lot of what they've done for CSK is simply what they've historically done for cricket in the state. There is a general consensus among fans and cricketers that the company, for all its supposed notoriety, has always supported cricket unconditionally. They've promoted junior and corporate cricket in Chennai which simply lent itself to a Junior Super Kings - a school level competition that spread CSK consciousness at the roots.

Despite their strong recall value, CSK have stayed clear of any major brand expansion programs like the Knight Riders and the Daredevils franchise have recently undertaken by starting sister franchises in the Caribbean Premier League or Global T20 league. It's a reflection of the company's position, with a similar element of conservatism seen in N. Srinivasan's methodical expansion of his cement empire. As with many other legacy enterprises sustaining on core values, their ambitions don't manifest in a show of muscles. "They are fine so long as they've got their home turf covered," Kharbanda adds.

But that isn't to suggest that they've been averse to making quick, smart business decisions. The Tamil Nadu Premier League was a smartly-timed endeavour that filled in the void caused by CSK's suspension. Chennai had been deprived of quality cricket with no marquee games scheduled at the World T20 because of a supposed of changed power equations at the BCCI. The TNPL was a perfect fit. It got competitive cricket and allowed India Cements to orchestrate some CSK teasers. Dhoni was only happy to play ball during the trophy unveiling. An Instagram post wearing a suggestive yellow shirt took anticipation to a fever pitch.

A small office in the India Cements office ensured the social channels that catered to a cumulative 15 million fans on Twitter and Facebook were taken on frequent nostalgic trips. A basic website remained operational and the club shop kept servicing merchandise orders as they came. The empty, yellow I, J, K stands at Chepauk, the constant throwbacks from former players and in the movies meant CSK never went out of public consciousness.

Campaigns such as the Superstar challenge and the Filter kaapi strike a chord with the locals ©Agencies

It's one thing to have a fan base but how did CSK get entwined with the betting scandal that was at the heart of turmoil in Indian cricket over the last few years and came out with their brand only slightly affected (A major sponsor - Aircel withdrew support but the company anyway went bankrupt soon after). That explanation can defy logic. At the heart of it, the common belief was that the team hadn't cheated and so there was an implicit trust factor. It was the doing of one man they didn't come to care much for. It would have been different had a player been implicated or if the sealed envelope submitted to the Supreme Court had revealed what it was alleged to have contained.

Tamils can be forgiving of their heroes evidenced by their re-election of Jayalalitha despite conviction in legal issues. But there was more sociological element to it - a persecution complex - an irrational feeling that CSK was the object of collective hostility, mainly from the Mumbai lobby. If Srinivasan was guilty of the conflict of interest charges as was being stated, then why wasn't Sharad Pawar implicated for inviting the then BCCI treasurer (Srinivasan) and his organisation to make a bid for the Chennai team in the first place?

When the BCCI order under Shashank Manohar and Anurag Thakur swiftly unravelled, there was even a sense of growing sympathy for Srinivasan, a man who they felt stood for something. Srinivasan grew in status as a cult icon that brought comic relief in stand-up shows, quirky t-shirts and parody accounts.

Eventually, fans don't want to get deep into the intricacies of the politics and off-field drama. As die-hard fan Muthu remarks: "The biggest punishment for the CSK fans was to watch from the sidelines as Mumbai Indians sneaked ahead as the most successful team of the first decade." But there was a golden hue even in their darkest hour watching Rohit Sharma and Co. with the trophy. And that emanated from CSK's official twitter account: "Next summer, we will be there! #ManyHappyReturnsOfCSK," it said.

Here they are.

© Cricbuzz

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