Match Makers

IT WAS THE SECOND LEG of the semi-final between Mohun Bagan Super Giant (MBSG) and Jamshedpur FC at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata. Fans had started to gather in the late after­noon for a 7.30PM start and the passion was intense. The game was being played against the backdrop of what happened in Jamshedpur when a section of MBSG fans were attacked, and understandably, passions were running high. That’s when we noticed two young men draped in white cloth making their way into the stands. They stood out in the sea of green-and-maroon. Curiosity got the better of us and we walked up to them and started a conversation.

“My father passed away this morning. He was a Mohun Bagan fan and he will only be able to rest in peace if Mohun Bagan does well tonight. I know he would have wanted me to come and support his club. Cheer for the team, for that’s what he would have done. That’s why I am here,” said one of the two young men. By then a few had gathered around us and there was a sense of stunned disbelief everywhere. I actually couldn’t believe what I had just heard and my colleagues looked at the man with a sense of complete bewilderment. Here he was, within hours of having cremated his father, at the Salt Lake Stadium cheering for Mohun Bagan.

It was for him that Mohun Bagan had to win the game. And they did. When I narrated the incident to Australian star Jamie Maclaren who is now Mohun Bagan’s go-to attacker, he looked stunned. “We will play for these fans every single time we walk out on the pitch. We know what this crest means to them, and from our end there will never be any dearth of effort. We don’t want them to do anything else but cheer for us. It is our duty to make them happy and we will,” said Maclaren.

His best mate and colleague Dimi Petratos concurred, “It is difficult to explain what this support means to us. All I can tell you is we feel blessed to have these men and women be­side us. We know they love the club. We know they love every one of us and it is for them that we turn up day in and day out to win. The effort will always be there to win and make them happy,” he said.

If this was football, how can IPL be left be­hind? On the day of the KKR-LSG match at the Eden Gardens, we spotted a known face about an hour before the game started. He is KKR super fan Ashok—we have seen him on television waving the KKR flag with his body painted in purple and gold. With the sun beating down and temperatures hovering around 37 degrees, it was anything but pleasant. For a 3:30PM game, more so. And yet, Ashok was unperturbed.

“I left my house in Nabadwip at 4AM in the morning. I had to go to the temple early morn­ing to pray for my team. Thereafter, I took the train to come to Kolkata. Once I reached Kolkata, I got ready for the match. It takes me approximately two hours to get fully pre­pared—the body paint and everything else. And then I make it a point to reach the stadi­um an hour-and-a-half early, in time to see the team bus arrive. It is part of my ritual to wel­come them by waving the flag. Then I go in. KKR has given me tickets for every game and I travel to away matches as well,” said Ashok.

What is interesting is that his day doesn’t end as the match gets over. “No, I don’t just go home. Whatever the result, it is impor­tant to stay by my team. I stand outside wav­ing the flag till the time the team bus departs for the team hotel. Only then is my job done. After that, I go back to the station and on most days, it is the midnight train that I take to get back home. Eventually, I reach home around 4AM,” he said with a smile. For a three-hour T20 match, it is a 24-hour cycle for Ashok. But then that’s life for him. “Eden is my temple and KKR is my team. I can do anything for my team,” he says naturally.

The truth is it is for these fans that IPL is what it is. These men and women make Indian cricket a real spectacle and make it at­tractive for broadcasters and sponsors alike. They know they have a fan base to tap into, and it is not dependent on the result. Win or lose, Ashok will always be a KKR fan.

As I have written elsewhere, the only constant in human life is fandom. Every other choice or preference can change, but not fandom. You might decide to dress differently, eat a different kind of food, live in another country or switch careers, but a Virat Kohli fan at the age of 6 will remain a Virat Kohli fan at the age of 60. However many hundreds Steve Smith might end up scoring, a Virat Kohli fan will always look at him as the Pied Piper of Indian cricket. That’s how cults are built. The same applies to MS Dhoni or KKR. Fans just love their idol or their team and will continue to worship them forever.

These fans make noise each time their team steps out and always believe that it is going to be their day. They follow the sport with diligence and support their idol with passion and commitment. Maybe this is why Leo Messi cried when he left Barcelona, or our own Sunil Chhetri never left Bengaluru FC and will retire there. Such loyalties build an immortal bond with fans.

Finally, it can be said that these fans, be they the Mohun Bagan fans at the Salt Lake Stadium or Ashok at Eden Gardens, enrich sport and make it what it is. Be it all the Dhoni fans who turn up at the Chepauk with Thala written on their body or a Rambabu, Ashok, Sudhir or Sugumar, they are as much part of sport as the players. Each feeds off the other and makes sport the opium of the masses and a domain of positivity far removed from the toxicity that we see in our society.

None of these men and women expect any­thing in return. A selfie from their favourite star or an autograph is enough to satisfy them and bring a smile to their faces. For me, these people are the real story. Always was and al­ways will be. And the best part is the num­ber is growing. With sport becoming all-per­vasive, fans across age groups are increasing in number with every passing season. Fan clubs are becoming a part of the ecosystem and with time we will perhaps get to celebrate many more like the gentleman at the Salt Lake Stadium or Ashok. What do they know of sport that only sport know?

autographEden GardensfansIndian cricketIPL 2025Lucknow Super Giantsselfie