Members of Shah Rukh Khan Fans Club celebrate outside the Eden Gardens. (Sanat Kr Sinha)

For every six that Sourav Ganguly hit in his dazzling innings of 88, Shiba Biswas and his team of six dhakis were drumming up a different beat in J Block. With the prince of Calcutta coming good at last, it was, as a screaming fan put it, Durga puja come early.

The dhakis are all members of the Shah Rukh Khan Fans Club and had marched into Eden Gardens with special permission from the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) management. “This is the day we had been practising our full range of beats for. When he was going in singles, we started with theka, but then we were dealing only in dandia, bhojpuriya, twist, Nagpuriya and remix beats,” beamed Shiba Biswas, the owner of Junior Nagina Dhol Tasa Party from Girish Park.

If the sound of dhak provided a beat to the roar of support, the sight for sore battle-weary eyes was patches of purple dotting the sea of fans in every corner of the park. Not all were team jerseys. Many had rummaged through their wardrobes to pick out purple outfits.

For the long-suffering KKR supporters purple has been the colour of perseverance. “If India loses the World Cup, do we stop supporting the team?” shoots back Nikunj Maloo, sporting a purple T-shirt with the Knight Riders crest in H Block, on being asked whether he would stop wearing the team T-shirt after a loss. Nikunj and his friends Akshay and Ativardhan had come for the match despite their ISC exams being on.

Ankush Bansal, in a purple T-shirt, had paid for his loyalty to KKR through his teeth. The dental surgeon from Lake Town has lost Rs 25,000 in three matches. “He bets for KKR and loses every time,” laughs brother Ankit, “Yet he would not place a bet against his team. Shah Rukh Khan should reimburse him.” “I don’t mind the money if it helps the team win,” Ankit says quietly, watching Herschelle Gibbs tear through the KKR attack.

The result mattered less to Barkha Bhamani now that her Behala neighbour Sourav Ganguly had “silenced his critics”. “I have seen him drive by loads of times. If I am wearing this purple kurta, it is to support him,” said the housewife sitting in H Block.

“Didn’t Sourav bat like royalty today?” beamed Vaishali Dalmia in the clubhouse lower tier. For the record, purple, from classical antiquity, is a symbol of royalty because only the wealthy could afford the dye in ancient Rome.

The daughter of Cricket Association of Bengal boss Jagmohan Dalmia had invested in three outfits in course of the tournament, all in purple. “Today, I matched my purple churidar with bangles, earring and dupatta for added luck,” she said, as the dangerous Rohit Sharma followed Gibbs back to the Deccan Chargers dugout.

But not all supporters came in purple. “The colour doesn’t matter, the name does,” said Subrata Chakraborty, a first-year MA student of Calcutta University. Subrata and 11 of his friends had come in white vests on which they had painted the letters to form the team name.

Neither did everyone support KKR for Sourav or Shah Rukh, or Calcutta for that matter. For the Hinchliffe family from England the reason was Gilchrist, Adam Gilchrist. “How can you ask Englishmen to support a team led by an Aussie?” smirked Michael, as Leslie, Tobias and Ezra nodded in agreement.

So, is the colour purple lucky? Rajiv Dutta pushed the pause button on celebrations to answer. “Even if they play bare-bodied it wouldn’t matter, as long as they play like this,” said the Sector V employee as all 43 of his colleagues hurrahed in chorus.