Sunil Gavaskar takes strike at the Eden...

Calcutta, April 17: The bat went flying out of Shah Rukh Khan’s “sweaty” hands during a mock game at the Eden after the eight-wicket win, as if he was banishing the “ghost” he had just berated.

“New boys, a team within control, fresh energy...” he had said, counting the reasons for the Knight Riders’ dramatic turnaround in IPL 4, and then added a fourth: “No ghosts from the past....”

Whatever phantom SRK may have had in mind, the Eden too finally laid to rest a ghost from a more distant past shortly after the Knights had slain the Royals from Rajasthan.

As the floodlights began going off, Sunil Gavaskar stepped into the twilight on the turf with Shah Rukh and, bat in hand, faced a few balls from the actor on a practice pitch. All in good fun, except....

Twenty-six years ago in January 1985, Sunny had vowed never to play again at the Eden after a Test match crowd booed his wife Marshneil and threw fruits at her. The spectators, angry with Gavaskar for dropping Kapil Dev and for his team’s slow batting, had been hooting at him all along.

... and SRK bowls. Pictures by Pabitra Das n See Sport and Metro

Sunny was true to his word, pulling out of the 1987 Calcutta Test against Pakistan and then announcing during that year’s World Cup that he wouldn’t play the Eden final if India made it — which it didn’t.

It’s a long time since he had last batted at the Eden, Gavaskar joked tonight.

When SRK’s turn came to take strike against the Little Master’s bowling, a heave saw the bat fly off his gloveless hands for a “six”! His hands had been sweaty, the actor later explained.

Shane Warne soon joined in and Shah Rukh gave his leggies a few good thwacks, perhaps just to rub it in. After all, the Knights’ co-owner had played his part faithfully in the back-to-back wins against the Royals.

Shah Rukh had worn a special turban on Friday, following a visit to the Ajmer Sharif dargah, when the Knights won by nine wickets in Jaipur. Today, he had a holy rosary wrapped around his hand as his team bowled the opposition out for 81 in 15.2 overs before reaching the target in 13.5.

Is it his nervous prayers or the all-new team that has been doing the trick? SRK didn’t rule out divine intervention, thanking “Allah miya” and the “farishtay (angels)”.

The wins in the last three matches have catapulted the team, nestled at the bottom for the past three years, to the top of the points table in IPL 2011. Of course, three-fourths of the tournament is yet to be played but for now, the Riders are riding high.

The big crowds returned to the Eden tonight, after a slashing of ticket prices, to cheer the home team. Also watching was former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin, an Eden favourite, who is in Bengal to campaign in his capacity as Congress MP.

“I was here for election campaigning. I thought of dropping in here. It’s a historic venue and it was nice to see the electrifying atmosphere,” Azhar said.

Shah Rukh, who was in the B1 hospitality box, kept the shiny rosary clasped in his hands through the game —now holding it in his left palm, now twirling it around his right wrist.

During his many earlier visits to the ground, SRK had used those hands to frame dance moves, wave and blow kisses but never to rub beads.

Job done today, he walked out on the greens and did a victory lap of his own, first around the 30-yard circle and then the boundary ropes. The crowds in the lower and upper tiers stayed back to wave at him.

The message from the team co-owner was simple: “With Calcutta behind us, we can do even better…. It’s their team. KKR owes it to Calcutta.”

Shilpa Shetty was missing from the stands, a sore neck ruling her out of the game. And so, poor Warne couldn’t even use dear friend Elizabeth Hurley’s Twitter tactics: “… Shilpa will give them (the team) all a big kiss if you win.”

The kiss will have to wait; tonight it was an SRK sixer on the menu.