Why they root for Rooney and not Dhoni

If Wayne Rooney and MS Dhoni were compared in terms of popularity amongst Mumbai’s sports lovers, the Manchester United striker would win hands down. That is, if you take the number of Man United red jerseys, AC Milan Stripes or Real Madrid Whites sold as compared to the Indian cricket team’s blues. 

So, is Dhoni and his team’s attire not-so-cool? If you believe 17-year old Ankit Mewada, it’s a matter of popularity. “Look at fan-base of clubs like Manchester United and Barcelona. Not all in India follow cricket, but these football clubs have devoted fans even outside their countries.”

It seems Mewada has touched just the tip of the iceberg. His friend, Vatsal Trivedi, explains further. “Footballers show a lot of energy which inspires us. We are looking out for icons beyond cricket these days,” says Trivedi, a die-hard Red Devils fan.

Also, many places in the city sell fake football jerseys, but one hardly finds an Indian cricket jersey there. Shop-owner Imran, who sells fake football jerseys at the Bandra Link road, says, “The sales ratio of an Indian cricket jersey to a football jerseys is
almost 1:15.”

Sanjay Gangopadhya, director, Nike, India agrees. “Football has always had a tradition of fans supporting their favourite team by wearing the jersey. This tradition is relatively new in cricket,” says Gangopadhya.

Though he points out that the trend can change with the emergence of Indian Premier League, Mewada points out that IPL is more of entertainment and less a sport.

Dhruv Tikka, freelance writer, feels that an average Indian fan is sceptical of spending Rs1500-2000 on cricket merchandise. “Football jerseys come up with new and better designs every year,” admits Tikka, a ManU fan.

Even an uncompromising cricket lover agrees but from a different perspective. Pratik Khasnis feels it is the absence of a larger-than-life hero like Sachin Tendulkar that is the reason of the cricket jersey’s unpopularity. “There were days when Tendulkar t-shirts were worn by many people who came to a cricket stadium to watch the match. Dhoni may be a bigger brand now, but he has not found young followers like Sachin did,” explains Khasnis.

Then there are some who have simply switched loyalties from cricket to football. Since he was 6, Ishu Sethi, now 14, was honing his bowling, only to switch to football recently. Why? “Every second kid plays cricket. I wanted to play something different, so I moved to football.” Even in his cricketing days, he loved to flaunt his blue Chelsea jersey before changing to whites for cricket practice and games.

 Now he wears what he loves on the field as well as off it.