TIMELY TICKET: Shah Rukh Khan hands over the match tickets to Sudip Mukherjee in Mumbai on Monday afternoon. Picture by Gajanan Dudhalkar

Subho Nava Varsha!

The three words — apart from a dimpled smile and a ticket to the Eden Gardens — with which Shah Rukh Khan welcomed Sudip Mukherjee home on Poila Baisakh.

The Gariahat-based businessman was led into the palatial Bandra home of the Bollywood Badshah on Monday afternoon. The magic password to open the gates of Mannat? The first ticket sold for the first home game of the Kolkata Knight Riders — owned by Shah Rukh and supported by the ABP Group — to be played on April 20.

Mukherjee was the first to buy tickets for the Kolkata Knight Riders versus Deccan Chargers Twenty20 match when bookings for Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) life members began on April 6.

“This is taking first-mover advantage to a whole new level. Indian Premier League (IPL) records found Mukherjee to be the first to book a ticket for the match. He (accompanied by wife and son) was taken to Mumbai to receive the ticket from Shah Rukh,” said Romi Bhandari, the head of operations of Kolkata Knight Riders.

Throughout their 30-minute stay at Mannat, Shah Rukh spoke of Kolkata Knight Riders — his team and its supporters. “He said just as the team was his responsibility so was the welfare of its supporters. He was concerned about how the spectators would go back home after the evening matches. I assured him that was not a problem, as Eden has hosted day-night matches before,” Mukherjee told Metro.

Though a Naseeruddin Shah fan, Mukherjee was bowled over by Shah Rukh’s passion for his new pursuit.

“He said Shoaib Akhtar’s absence would be felt and he also expressed concern over the Bengal government’s refusal to waive entertainment tax for the match,” said Mukherjee, who gifted King Khan a traditional Bengal handicraft. His return gift from SRK? A Nokia 3500 Classic.

So was it luck or his love for the game that won him this dream tryst with SRK? “It isn’t just about luck; to me it’s poetic justice, a reward for not having missed a single match at Eden Gardens since the fourth Test versus Bill Lawry’s Australia in 1969. I was eight years old then,” said the 47-year-old cricket devotee.

His son Senajit, 13, promises to take the family’s cricket craze one step further. “My son watched his first Eden match at the age of seven. He plays for St. James School and is part of Sourav Ganguly’s Videocon School of Cricket,” said the proud father.

On Monday, Senajit was “thrilled” to spend time with Shah Rukh, who asked him his age and where he studied.

Both father and son are Sourav fans. “It’s a great feeling that he is a fellow Xaverian,” said Mukherjee, adding that he admired the Kolkata Kight Riders captain’s “grit and determination”.