The Kolkata factor

It is impossible to watch a match, any match, at Eden Gardens and not get in touch with Kolkata's soul. It is a soul in which throbs a fervent and positively partisan passion for cricket.

Kolkatans have never bothered disguising their loyalty, and it just took two balls during the Kolkata Knight Riders match against Mumbai to encapsulate how this city responds to the game. Inevitably, both involved Sourav Ganguly.

The first ball Ganguly faced - it was only the second ball of the match - was, not surprisingly, a bouncer. But Shaun Pollock is not the quickest, and Ganguly, who had perhaps seen it coming, helped it safely, if not authoritatively, to the midwicket boundary. If you didn't know the context, the crowd reaction would have made you believe that the tournament had been won with that single stroke. About 80,000 fans sprang to their feet. Their collective rapture would have reverberated through the city. It was an awesome sight - thousands of hands waving in the air, bodies swaying to music, and a sense of glorious bonding electrifying the surroundings. It was hopelessly over the top, but it was impossible to escape the charge, not to feel one with the moment.

And yet, within a minute, the place resembled a morgue. Pollock pitched the ball up, and shaped it away from Ganguly, who couldn't resist wafting at it. Sanath Jayasuriya caught the ball above his head and Ganguly was gone, having provided merely a glimpse of what could have been possible.

The centrepiece of the evening's show was already over, but never mind. Ricky Ponting strode in purposefully, and a banner went up in the stands for the man at the other end: "McCullum, don't go home".

The Knight Riders have now lost two matches in a row, and both Ponting and McCullum are going home, but make no mistake, Shah Rukh Khan is on to a good thing. Kolkata represents the best hope for the Indian Premier League. Or let's put it another way, if the IPL doesn't succeed here, it has no hope elsewhere.

The Knight Riders have a lot going for them. Sport runs in Kolkata's veins; it is ingrained in the socio-cultural fabric of the city, and though fans here can often be irrational, there is also a discernible intellectual rigour to the public discourse on cricket. The Knight Riders have an icon player who represents a state's aspirations (for an idea of what Ganguly means to Bengal, take Sachin Tendulkar's pan-Indian appeal and multiply by two); and a superstar owner whose magnetism and charisma transcend regional chauvinism. Kolkatans are an emotional lot who love their heroes, and they have taken to Shah Rukh with an urgent fervour.

In fact, Shah Rukh fills the city. He features on most of hoardings that the franchise has plastered over all parts of the city, imploring fans to join the Knight Riders fan clubs, hailing "All the King's men", and warning opponents not to mess with his team.

When I land at Sonar Bangla, the hotel the Knight Riders have turned into their camp, I find the place overrun with television crews. They are all waiting for Shah Rukh, who is flying down from Paris on a chartered fight. My taxi driver is yet to see Shah Rukh in person, but excitedly points at the Knight Riders team bus which is parked outside the hotel. "Every time I pass the hotel, I see the bus," he says with an air of fulfilment.

At the ground, the chemistry between Shah Rukh and the fans is palpable. And Shah Rukh knows how to play to gallery. The stadium goes berserk when he makes his first appearance and bows to the stands, and for the best part of the evening they sway to him. Between balls and between overs all eyes gravitate towards Shah Rukh, who employs a familiar gyration to rouse the crowd into supporting his team. The dancing girls don't stand a chance before him.

By all accounts Shah Rukh is an involved yet detached owner. He stays out of the cricket decisions but has developed strong personal relationships with the players. "The best thing about him is that he puts no pressure on us," said one, "He respects the players and makes them feel special. The general refrain is that we are all in this together, and even if we lose, we will go down together." Shah Rukh sits through the team meetings quietly, but each time, at the end he teaches the players a new dance step.

After Kolkata's first loss, to the Chennai Super Kings, every member of the team received a consolation SMS from Shah Rukh, which ended with the promise that he would be there with them soon, and that there would be another dance step to learn.

Kolkata seems the only city of the IPL's eight where the idea of a fan club has taken root. The stands are awash with black-and-gold jerseys. Most bear No. 12, the number that belongs to Shah Rukh, who is the team's unofficial 12th man.

The team's anthem "Korbo, Lorbo, Jeetbo", is a raging hit. It fulfils the most important criteria for a team song: it is inclusive, rousing and eminently chantable. A roar goes up in the stands every time it is played. In comparison, the Mumbai Indians' anthem sounds like a discordant interruption.

As fans filed out of the ground after their team had lost to Mumbai, some were heard singing the anthem with a note of sarcasm. But that's what Kolkata fans are like: they bare their soul in support of their team but take defeats as a personal affront. Make no mistake, though, they will be back at the next match and Eden Gardens will be a spectacle again. Very soon.