As Sourav Ganguly returns to Kolkata with Pune Warriors, Swati Garg finds the city’s loyalties stand firmly divided.
It’ll be war at Eden Gardens this evening when Kolkata Knight Riders takes on Pune Warriors in the IPL league match. In all likelihood, the Kolkata team will face a hostile crowd. The highly-charged Kolkatans are expected to root for Pune Warriors which is led by Bengal’s pride, captain extraordinaire, and wronged superstar Sourav Ganguly.
Twitter and Facebook are abuzz with comments, speculation and acrimonious exchanges between supporters of the two sides. “Tomo may be the last time Dada plays at Eden gardens, so i request all Bengali’s To cheer hard for #dada & Support him. Pls,” (sic.) tweets Arun_Raghavn. “i want kolkata to support kkr, but sumwhere in my heart will feel really weird if d ppl at eden cheer when dada gets out #IPL,” says trishul3. Even Harsha Bhogle got in on the action when he tweeted, “once, once, i want to see ganguly turn it on. kolkata?” Cricket-tadka.com has a microsite called “the most anticipated match of T20” in which a commenter, Ranajoy Chakrabarty, roots for Ganguly, saying that as a true Kolkatan, he’ll support Pune — “No man or team has brought more glory to my city in cricket. Dada has represented the city for 25years, KKR is just a 5 year old kid. So Dada over KKR anyday!!”
Going by form, KKR could have the upper hand. With six wins in 10 matches, KKR is placed second after Delhi Daredevils; with four wins in 11 outings, Pune Warriors is second last among the nine teams. But then this is a grudge match — people didn’t like it when KKR, owned by outsider Shahrukh Khan, dropped Ganguly last year. “The Pune support can be explained by the KKR disconnect. Nothing in the team links them to Kolkata. SRK is not from here, Gautam Gambhir [the KKR captain] is forever going to be a Delhi player,” says Shashwat Goswami, a Pune supporter.
Such has been the interest that tickets were sold out within hours after booking opened. In fact, 25,000 people turned up to buy when the police had anticipated around 10,000. For those who missed out, tickets are available in the black market but at a huge premium — Rs 1,200 for tickets worth Rs 300, and Rs 3,000 or more for tickets priced between Rs 750 and Rs 1,000. A buyer on OLX.in, an online auction site, has put up an asking bid of Rs 3,000 for tickets priced at Rs 1,000.
Such is the level of interest that sales of the DVDs of The Warrior Prince, a recent documentary on Ganguly, have shot up at Planet M and Music World. Sourav Ganguly IPL app, the only app dedicated to a player in IPL, has seen several hundred downloads. Deep Dasgupta, CEO of Pune Warriors, reports that sale of the team merchandise has “gone up several times”. Members of Sourav Chandidas Ganguly Fan Club plan to go in a group of 200. The West Bengal government, too, has decided to pitch in with two giant screens set up at the Shahid Minar and at Tajpur Ghat for those who haven’t managed to get tickets.
