“Devastated.”
A message like this usually clings to the coattails of mortality. It is a way of sharing a tough moment from distance, a virtual hug or perhaps a silent nod. Ajay's message leaned more towards the latter. I knew, though, that no one had died in our vicinity. The gravity came from a different direction. A lifelong fan of Liverpool Football Club, Ajay’s message was an expression of the blow caused by head coach Jurgen Klopp’s revelation that he would be leaving the team come June. The pain was unmistakable.
Like Ajay, many are seriously sick at the thought of a Klopp-less Liverpool. Watching the team now probably feels like a terminal countdown. Each pass, every tackle, is a step toward the culmination of something deeply cherished. Since October 2015, an institution steeped in 150 years of history has borne the indelible imprint of Jurgen Klopp. From the streets of Merseyside to the alleys of Macau, every Liverpool fan has found themselves drawn to his magnetism. He has been an injection of vitality into the veins of this club. Even from the perspective of someone supporting their sworn rivals, Manchester United, Klopp evoked great admiration. When the official announcement came via video, swiftly engulfed by thousands of blue-tick accounts screaming in uppercase, I couldn't help but feel sad. In these eight years, no team has been as watchable or fun as Liverpool. I can only imagine the scale of grief for a Liverpool fan from Bangalore, who regularly stays up till 3 am to watch his team.
***
I live in a city where a collective sense of impending loss is simmering beneath the surface. Whether it unravels this summer or the next, that funeral day is near when Mahendra Singh Dhoni says, “That's it. I'm done.” It has been more than four years since he quit international cricket, but every year, for two months, he lights up the lives of thousands in Chennai. N. Srinivasan, former chief of BCCI and owner of Chennai Super Kings, once said, “There is no CSK without Dhoni; there is no Dhoni without CSK.” In that play of words, perhaps he missed a nuance. For anyone who has closely observed the team's trajectory over the past many years, particularly since their triumphant return from a three-year hiatus, the undeniable truth is written on every wall: Dhoni is CSK.
I've been to at least half a dozen IPL matches at the Chepauk Stadium. The noise when Dhoni strides to the crease is always an auditory onslaught. In the lead-up to IPL 2019, nearly 12,000 fans came to the stadium, not for a high-stakes game, but merely to watch him practice. Over the past couple of seasons, the audacity of other CSK batters either prolonging their stay at the crease or daring to precede the captain has drawn serious agitation from the yellow sea in the stands.
About 500 meters to the west of Anfield, the hallowed grounds of Liverpool Football Club, a mural of Jurgen Klopp takes up an entire wall, bearing the inscription “Boss” in imposing white font. Meanwhile, Dhoni, affectionately known as “Thala” (leader) across Chennai and Tamil Nadu, is now immortalised in a yellow mural gracing the precincts of Chepauk Stadium.
To understand a romance like this is to delve into the profound impact that Klopp and Dhoni have etched upon their adopted homes. Beyond the realms of sport, theirs is a story of rare symbiosis with the communities they've come to embody.
***
Football is woven into the fabric of the city of Liverpool. The team's anthem, You'll Never Walk Alone, is one of the most requested songs at weddings and funerals. The other heavily-requested song is the anthem of Everton, Liverpool's cross-town rivals. In happiness and death, football runs through their veins. Until 1990, Liverpool were, by a mile and a half, the most successful men’s team from England, amassing a trove of domestic and continental titles. The years after were the start of a drought that lasted for nearly thirty years. Meanwhile, arch-rivals Manchester United surged ahead, clinching an astonishing 13 league titles, effortlessly surpassing Liverpool's tally. At his first press conference as Liverpool manager, Klopp spoke about how he wanted to change Liverpool - players, staff, fans - from doubters to believers. There is a line that precedes the chorus of You’ll Never Walk Alone, going, “Walk on, with hope in your heart.” It is the most emotionally stirring point of the song.
***
When the first IPL franchises were announced, the spotlight gravitated naturally toward the pulsating hubs of Kolkata, Mumbai, and Bangalore, with Bollywood luminaries and business magnates seizing ownership stakes. Six of the inaugural eight franchises astutely secured their homegrown icons — Sehwag, Tendulkar, Dravid etc — who would wear the colours of their native teams. India Cements, having acquired the Chennai franchise for an eye-watering sum of $91 million, faced an unveiling without a local superstar. Yet, N. Srinivasan, shrewd as he was, had his sights firmly set on a prized catch. As the player auction started, his crosshairs were fixed on the man who would come to define the ethos of Chennai Super Kings.
When the capsule with Dhoni's name came up, it was obvious that every franchise would be part of the bidding war. As Srinivasan kept raising the bid, only Mumbai remained in competition, until they too decided to keep the baton down. One raised hand left in the room, MS Dhoni was a Chennai Super Kings player.
It took Chennai no time to attach themselves to Dhoni. Beyond his cricketing prowess — captaincy of the Indian ODI and T20 teams, recent triumph in the T20 World Cup, and a swashbuckling, muscular batting style — Dhoni embodied the quintessential Chennai ethos. Hailing from a modest, working-class background, he wore his success with an unassuming grace. Chennai found in Dhoni a figure akin to their cinematic superstars – larger than life, but oddly accessible.
In the first season itself, they reached the final, losing by a whisker to Shane Warne's Rajasthan. The first moment of eruption came in the third season, when they beat Mumbai Indians in the final to lift their first title. Dhoni, by now, was a cult hero in Chennai and India. He had become an eagle-eyed leader whose batting and leadership flourished under suffocating pressure. The second came a few months later, when Dhoni capped off an unforgettable innings with a six off Nuwan Kulasekara to win India the ODI World Cup.
Two months hence, CSK secured another IPL title, and the Madras Cricket Club, while perhaps refraining from the grandiose "Home of Cricket" moniker à la Lord's, witnessed a brief but palpable era when Chepauk stood at the nucleus of global cricket. From a time when cricketers from Tamil Nadu struggled for recognition in the national team, this turf now echoed with the euphoria and catharsis of triumph.
***
There is a saying in Liverpool that goes, “Scouse, not English.” It is a city filled with left-wing activists, socialist bookstores, and underground pubs with Soviet posters on their walls. Even though its roots were working class, the city wasn't always anti-establishment. Between 1787 and 1807, every mayor of Liverpool was a part of the British slave trade. Between 1820 and 1865, north of 80% of the cotton that entered England came through the docks of Liverpool. In the eloquent words of Wright Thompson, “They built so many ships here that every tree on Lord Sefton's estate was chopped down. The dock toughness touched everyone, even musicians. The famous band on the Liverpool-registered Titanic was employed by a local music company. They kept on playing as they died. That's Liverpool.”
Technological advancements rendered the docks obsolete, and it took a long time for the city to come to terms. They fought long and hard, but couldn't get through to Downing Street. In the summer of 1981, with unemployment tearing half of England and this city apart, riots broke out in corners of Liverpool. There is recorded communication between government officials in London that wanted Liverpool to wither and wilt. Yet, amidst all this turbulence, the Liverpool football team was a homing beacon.
The cataclysmic event at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield during the 1989 FA Cup semi-finals forever scarred the city. Ninety-six Liverpool fans never returned home as overcrowded stands collapsed due to a dereliction of crowd management by Yorkshire Police. The ensuing blame game, orchestrated by the police, media, and government, sought to cast "drunk Liverpool fans" as culprits. The grieving families, undeterred, waged a battle in courts and on the streets, enduring a legal struggle that spanned nearly two decades. Justice finally prevailed, but Liverpool never forgave London. They never will.
While speaking to writer and journalist Jonathan Liew in June 2019, Jurgen Klopp was asked about his political leanings. “How politics is described now, I am for sure on the left side of middle. Because I’m interested in the community, I’m interested that we are all doing well.”
Klopp's football philosophy, characterised by collective effort, hard running, and relentless pressing, struck a profound chord in Liverpool. The sight of players relentlessly pursuing opponents into their own box in the 91st minute of a match, egged on by fervent fans, encapsulates the essence of his ethos - breathless, counter-attacking, and edgy. It embodies the indomitable spirit that defines Liverpool.
***
And the end of another victorious IPL campaign last year, Dhoni was a tad emotional, maybe even letting a tear or two emerge in the corner of his left eye. He was asked about his relationship with the fans in yellow. “I think they love me for who I am. Being grounded is something they like in me. Also the fact that the kind of cricket I play, everyone in the stadium feels they can play that kind of cricket because there's nothing orthodox about it. I feel they can relate to me more than anyone else.”
***
In an environment designed to amplify the scale of opulence in Indian cricket, here was one of its most important symbols, talking up authenticity and earthiness. Outside of cricket, he is a Manchester United fan, so I’m not sure he will encourage comparisons with a Liverpool manager, especially one who gets his teams to play football like it's the last game they'll ever be in. Dhoni, you see, prefers the scalpel over a bazooka.
That innate earthiness is perhaps the most endearing quality about Dhoni and Klopp, a trait cherished by their adopted cities. They assemble players who promise unwavering effort, even if their ceiling is slightly lower than the best in class. And then they back them to the absolute limit and make superstars out of them. CSK and Liverpool don't buy from the top shelf. Liverpool's most successful period in recent memory came with a midfield of James Milner and Jordan Henderson, players with modest abilities but infinite energy and passion. Dhoni wins title after title with teams that look mid-table at best on paper. Neither Klopp's Liverpool nor Dhoni's CSK should have won as much as they did. And yet, both will tell you that they could've won so much more had just a few things gone their way in some matches.
Some things just feel right. Klopp and Dhoni might have found their way to their cities by serendipity, but, as cliches go, theirs are unions written in the pearly meadows of sporting heaven. Imagining a world without that dalliance is scary. Life will move on, of course, but there will suddenly be a warm hue missing. And sometimes, that's indeed devastating.
Beautiful beautiful. I now let your posts accumulate. Once I read one, I cannot stop. Write ups like this are the reason. I did not know jackshit about Liverpool (or football or for that matter, anything else but I digress), but I know now. Thank you so much Sarthak. Will I watch a football match any time soon? Nope. Who will I be rooting for? Liverpool.