That electric feeling: Gujarat Titans find the fan connect
Sanjjeev K Samyal
AHMEDABAD: Ever since the Gujarat Titans (GT) sealed their place in the final, there was a mad demand for tickets for the Indian Premier League summit clash. Everyone associated with the sport—coaches, administrators, Gujarat Cricket Association staff had become the most sought-after people in town.
Gujarat Under-16 coach head coach Hem Joshipura wasn’t spared either. “People believe that since we are involved with GCA we have easy access to it (tickets), but we don’t,” says Joshipura, who played first-class cricket for Gujarat.
Mumbai Indians (MI) have a massive following in Gujarat.
But, GT’S dramatic entry in the IPL, full of thrilling run chases and dominant displays, made everyone sit up and take notice. It helped establish an instant connect. Before the tournament, the Titans had assembled in Ahmedabad for a short camp. With the league games being held in Mumbai and the first two playoff games in Kolkata, they didn’t really have the opportunity to soak in the joy of a home game right until the final.
GT’S Director of Cricket Vikram Solanki could feel the buzz around his team in Ahmedabad, the chord they had been able to strike with the fans. “Fans are very important for any team, they are very important to us. We hadn’t had the opportunity to play in front of our home fans.
And we couldn’t have written a better script, the first game we play (at home) is the IPL final. At the outset we had made comments around wanting the Gujarat Titans fans to feel proud of their team, I hope in some small way they have been able to feel proud of their team,” says Solanki before the final. Ahmedabad is their home base but even fans from neighbouring districts were desperately trying to find a seat in the stadium. Manish Desai, president of the Kheda District Cricket Association at Nadiad, Axar Patel’s home town which is a two-hour drive from Ahmedabad said: “I will tell you GT didn’t have a huge following in Gujarat. Mumbai Indians ka hi jyada tha starting point mein (at the start of the IPL people mainly followed MI here). But as they (GT) went on winning, it’s become solid now.”
Ex-india stumper and chairman of selectors Kiran More, who hails from Baroda, said: “For me this is a big achievement for the Titans, playing their first match on home ground as the final of the IPL. Their followers will grow in big numbers, which is going to help them immensely. It is definitely one of the best stadiums in the world.”
Buying a team in the IPL at a huge cost is one thing, but establishing connect is an entirely different challenge. Most teams take at least three to four years to establish that. The Titans seems to have done that at a much quicker pace.