Mass-ive motivation

27th May 2008

In a cricket-crazy country, jam packed stadiums are certain to escalate the mood of the game to a newer level. With the inaugural edition of the DLF Indian Premier League (IPL) already being effective in generating strong loyalties, crowd support has certainly been a motivational feature for all the teams.

Even the players have admitted to this factor at many instances throughout the tournament. Most of the domestic players have been usually used to vacant stands, and find the crowd's cheering an enthralling experience although they insisted that it did not put them under any pressure.

Of course, the stalwarts had more to say about this significant factor in cricket.

Bangalore Royal Challengers captain Rahul Dravid said he enjoyed playing in a good atmosphere.

"It has been good fun playing in front of crowds. When you come to the ground you see a lot of people there and you see a lot of passion there. I think it inspires you and takes away that bit of tiredness," the former India captain was quoted as saying to the media at one of the press meets.

While many other cricketers said that even though playing a home or away game will not affect their performance, they did not rule out the influence that full throttle audiences have had in the IPL.

Some captains like Delhi Daredevils' Virender Sehwag and Kings XI Punjab's Yuvraj Singh were not exactly happy with spectators' responses.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, skipper of India's ODI and Chennai Super Kings teams, while referring to Mumbai Indians' fans said, "Well, of course there is a bit of advantage. The Mumbaikars are really behind the Mumbai Indians. They support them like anything. That's a plus point. But at the same time, if you lose a few early wickets then the crowd starts putting pressure on you. That's the minus point as well," he said while talking in a post-match press conference.

"You know if you are winning then you always have the crowd support but if you are not doing excellent the pressure mounts on you," he added.

India's star batsman and captain of Mumbai Indians, Sachin Tendulkar has appreciated the way the fans have held out for them on their bad days time and again. His teammate Shaun Pollock shared the same view and also said that at times, he found it to difficult to communicate on the field due to the noise levels around.

However, the ultimate applause is yet to be witnessed with just five days to go for the grand IPL finale.