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| Sourav Ganguly and (above) Gautam Gambhir in their jerseys |
Cricket has put the Calcuttan’s loyalty to its sternest test not only in the Eden Gardens stands, but also at sportswear stores.
The sale of Pune Warriors jerseys has shot up at branded merchandise stores as well as the Maidan stalls in the run-up to the big IPL-5 weekend, competing with the popularity of the colour purple among fans feeling compelled to wear their Knighthood on their sleeves.
Shop owners say jerseys of Shah Rukh Khan’s team have been their highest-selling item this week, though not by much.
“In fact, Pune shirts were selling more than KKR’s until a few days ago. Demand for Knight Riders jerseys was back on Wednesday. Fans of the home team seem upbeat about the chances of their team this year, especially captain Gautam Gambhir’s form,” said Sheikh Nazimuddin, proprietor of Raja Sports and secretary of the BC Roy Stall Holders’ Association.
Gambhir’s team has won four of its last five matches, rain robbing it of a point in the remaining one. Saturday’s result will be more crucial to the semi-final prospects of Sourav Ganguly’s team, but fans on either side of the home and hometown hero divide are looking at the match beyond the points table.
Kamal Jain, who owns the largest Adidas franchise in the city, recalls how a remark by a Pune Warriors fan got a KKR loyalist’s goat at his Salt Lake City Centre store recently.
“A customer buying a Pune shirt (Adidas holds the merchandise rights for the team) said aloud that Ganguly would wallop KKR or some such thing. A Knight Riders fan who happened to be at the store promptly protested the remark. Things did go a little out of hand,” he said, chuckling at the thought.
But for the duo almost coming to blows, Jain doesn’t mind the rivalry because it spells better business!
He had asked for 400 Pune shirts for his four outlets, but was allotted only 24 for each. “I am almost out of stock now and sales are peaking,” he rued.
Reebok, which manufactures the official Knight Riders jersey, has done just as well throughout this IPL season.
“Jersey sales have been good in all our Calcutta stores, and there is a long way to go before the tournament ends,” said Vijay Dugar, the Bengal distributor for Reebok.
The price of a branded KKR shirt is Rs 2,499, though a “fan version” is available for Rs 999. The Pune Warriors jersey retails at Rs 2,299. The prices are, of course, much lower in the Maidan stores.
Sudipto Poddar, an engineering student, was at the Maidan Market with friend Kaustav Basu on Thursday to buy a KKR jersey each. “We all love Dada. We will love him on May 4 and May 6. But on the day of the match, Eden will back KKR to the hilt, and that is the way it should be,” declared the 21-year-old.
