Mamata Banerjee's favourite - and "numerologically favourable" - colour combination of sky-blue and white is supposedly to blame for Lionel Messi's failure to win a major trophy for Calcutta's second favourite football team after Brazil.

The Argentine legend's second consecutive disappointing end to a tournament while turning out in his country's colours - the World Cup a year ago and the Copa America final last weekend - prompted Metro to explore why what works for Mamata in politics doesn't for Messi in football.

Numerologist Rohit K Singhania, better known as iZO and the founder and CEO of iZofy.com, helped decode the colour conundrum.

Blue-and-white jinx

The equation of numbers and colours is the differentiator when it comes to Dame Luck favouring Mamata and turning her back on Messi, according to the mathematics of numerology.

Chief minister Mamata's numerological name number is 41, which works out to 5 (4+1). Her ruling planet is Mercury, which is green. Venus, which is blue, and Mercury are "friends". So, blue and green are her lucky colours.

Blue is what Mamata wants to paint the town with while green is the colour of her Trinamul Congress.

Speaking at a programme in Topsia in March, Mamata had said that she chose blue for the city because she couldn't have chosen green. "We selected the sky theme because the colour is soothing. If we paint it green, they will say we are using the Trinamul colour. We wanted to choose a soothing colour; so we chose the colour of the sky. Some people are asking why we are painting. What will we do? Shall we keep it (the city) dirty?"

Singhania says the combination of blue and white represents love and peace, which of course doesn't work on the football pitch. Football demands energy, which is why Messi wearing the red jersey for Barcelona is a winner while Messi in sky blue for Argentina isn't.

In 2004, at the age of 17, Messi had been offered the chance to play for the Spanish national under-20 team but he chose his native Argentina. Had he chosen Spain, Messi would have won a World Cup to seal the debate over whether he, Pele or Maradona is the best.

Blue-and-red magic

Messi, whose birthday is June 24, gets the "psychic number" 6. For people with this number, blue is supposed to be a lucky colour, albeit in a shade darker than Messi gets to wear while playing for Argentina.

Blue has worked for Messi whenever it has been darker, as in the Barcelona jersey. Dark blue signifies extra energy. The red in the Barca jersey adds to this energy.

For No. 6 people, the lucky number is 9. These people are ruled by Mars, which is red and stands for energy. Mars gives energy and Venus in blue provides luck; so they go very well together.

Mamata's aggression comes from the number 5, according to numerology. Number 5 people are also known to be impulsive, talkative and moody.

Maradona maths

The one footballer who worked magic with blue and white for Argentina like Mamata for Trinamul was Diego Maradona.

Messi's numerological name number is 40 (4+0=4) and it doesn't gel with Argentina's. In numerology, 4 and 9 are enemy numbers.

Messi and Barca

For those who think associating success with numbers and colours is mumbo-jumbo, affirmation comes from consultant psychiatrist Jai Ranjan Ram. "Colours are external things and cannot determine success. Barcelona win almost everything they play because they have that good a team. In football, the team is important," he said.

Do you believe the white-and-blue combination is Mamata's boon and Messi's bane? Tell ttmetro@abpmail.com