(CNN) -- "Sehwag, go back to Ranji!" The jingoistic crowd was screaming when the portly batsman Virender Sehwag was dismissed in the game between the Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Daredevils in an Indian Premier League (IPL) semi-final game in 2008. That Sehwag was one of India's leading players of the decade apparently didn't matter. The spectators were delivering their ultimate insult: Telling him to go back to the staid version of the Indian domestic circuit, the Ranji Trophy. The crowd IPL attracted was different from the traditional Anglophile test cricket fan. They were raucous, participative and young. They were happy to see legends succeed, and happier to see them fail if they played for rival teams. The fans were united -- and partisan.
@highlight
The Indian Premier League has exploded into a brand estimated to be worth more than $3 billion
@highlight
The IPL's rise is in part due to its Americanized style -- but has not been without hiccups
@highlight
To understand how big the league became, one has to go back through history
@highlight
Now, it is time to reflect whether cricket's soul is now no longer English, but American
He then single-handedly took an @placeholder game and single-mindedly Americanized it for a new India.