In club sports, change is the only constant. Players join, play and move on: some to greener pastures, some are off-loaded and some just pass into oblivion. Most successful teams manage to create a nucleus, which stays long enough to make an impact.
In the English Premier League,
Arsenal had the Bergkamp-Henry-Vieira era, Manchester United are defined by the Beckham-Scholes-Giggs-Keane era and Chelsea had the Lampard-Terry-Drogba period of domination.
Same is the case with the Indian Premier League. For most groups, the end of IPL-6 will mean the end of an era. As per the original plan, the 2014 IPL will be played after a full-fledged auction.
And, while the time to move on is round the corner, it could be a huge motivation factor to leave behind a legacy. This is what this year's IPL will be like for most players. It is being seen as the last chance for the likes of Tendulkar, Sehwag and Gayle to leave their imprint on their current dressing rooms. Some of them may again be picked by their original franchises, but the group nucleus will be broken.
