They are sorely disappointed but they will support their home teams anyway.
An HT-C fore survey in the cities of Kolkata, Chandigarh, Bangalore and Hyderabad assessed the impact the changed composition of the home IPL team — following the auction in Bangalore — has had on fans.
How do Kolkata residents feel about Sourav Ganguly not being part of Kolkata Knight Riders (indeed, he found no takers at all); Yuvraj Singh no longer being in King’s XI, Punjab, Rahul Dravid out of Royal Challengers and VVS Laxman no more in Deccan Chargers?
The results are significant: though fans in all four cities said they were disappointed, the majority in three will continue to support the home team. In Hyderabad, 77% said they’d root for the local team despite Laxman’s absence.
Similarly in Chandigarh, 72% were ready to support King’s XI even without Yuvraj in it, just as 66% were ready to do the same in Bangalore for a Royal Challengers without Dravid. In Kolkata 46% were found ready to back a KKR-sans Ganguly.