City versus country

Sharda Ugra, the deputy editor of India Today analyses Yuvraj Singh's statements after his side, Kings XI Punjab, were allegedly targeted by a section of the Mumbai crowd.

Having robbed the raucous Wankhede Stadium crowd of their breath and all dreams of victory, at the presentation Yuvraj then acerbically thanked spectators for their "support" and drove the knife in, "It was pretty one-sided for Mumbai. Just don't forget some of the Punjab boys also play for India."

Adrenalin pumping, it was clear Yuvraj was speaking not as captain of King's XI Punjab in the IPL, but as an India cricketer used to playing before adoring and supportive home crowds. The otherwise confident left-hander was struggling to fully comprehend life in this parallel cricketing universe.

But as with everything connected to the IPL, an instant larger symbolism was constructed around his statement. It is now being taken as proof that, by the sheer power of its entertainment value and a carpet-bombing media campaign, the IPL has succeeded in creating city loyalties in a sport previously driven by national allegiances. This issue was considered the competition's biggest hurdle but the message going out now after the Mumbai-Mohali game is that it has been tossed aside by the IPL juggernaut.