LSG head coach opines on Dhoni’s massive fanbase, Kohli’s popularity, and the hero worship in Indian cricket
The IPL 2024 final between Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad will be played on May 26. The fans will surely remember this season for the dominance of the batters and the performances of star players and big franchises. Sunil Narine’s opening stint for KKR, MI’s struggle, Riyan Parag batting display were the talk of the town.
The spotlight was once again on MS Dhoni. Prior to the IPL 2024 opener, Dhoni had passed the captaincy of Chennai Super Kings to Ruturaj Gaikwad, but he remained the team’s unofficial leader on the field. Facing CSK in Chennai was an intimidating task for the other teams due to the massive presence of spectators wearing Dhoni jerseys. This trend continued when CSK played away games.
LSG coach Justin Langer talked about his first-ever IPL team management experience on BBC Sport -Stumped. The former Australian batter discussed Dhoni’s enormous fan base, drawing comparisons to that of Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar.
“It was crazy. I first heard about the massive fan turnout, then we played Chennai Super Kings twice. When they came to Lucknow’s Ekana Stadium, which holds 50,000 people, an estimated 48,000 were wearing MS Dhoni’s number seven jersey. I couldn’t believe the fervent fan support. And when we traveled to play CSK, their stadium wasn’t just 98% full – it was 100% capacity. The level of hero worship for cricketers in India is truly unbelievable,” Langer stated.
“And so, as a player, I witnessed it during our matches in India, especially with Sachin Tendulkar. Later, while coaching the Australian team, it was with Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni, it’s astounding when you get over there,” he continued.
Langer felt that the excessive hero worship of some cricketers in India was detrimental to other players and had its disadvantages.
“Rohit Sharma is a hugely popular figure in India as the national team’s captain. However, this year I saw the flip side when he was replaced as Mumbai Indians’ captain by Hardik Pandya. It was quite sad to see Pandya, the Indian T20I vice-captain, get booed by crowds in every game. I learned from Jonty Rhodes and Morne Morkel, who have IPL experience, that rather than getting upset by such situations, it’s better to just go with the flow,” he remarked.
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