Goddess Durga Would Help SRK's IPL Team

This Durga Puja, the Goddess will be seen adorned in a sari resembling the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) jersey, a unique idea which the team believes would help them receive her blessings in the next IPL tournament.

The SRK Fan Club of Kolkata has come up with a six-foot- tall idol of Durga, attired in a purple and golden-coloured sari inspired by the jersey of the Shahrukh Khan-owned team.

One hand of the ten-armed Goddess is seen clutching the team`s flag.

KKR is owned by Khan`s Red Chillies Entertainment in partnership with actress Juhi Chawla Mehta and her husband Jay Mehta.

On all four days of Durga Puja, around 400 members of the fan club would worship the deity, installed at the club`s premises at Rajarhat on the north-eastern outskirts of the city, praying for their team`s success.

"The last three IPLs were a disaster for KKR, so we will worship Ma Durga for the super success of our hero Shahrukh Khan and his team KKR," Arnab Roy, secretary of the 13-year-old fan club, told reporters.

The fans believe that the idol will bring luck and success to the cricket team and their hero SRK.

"But it is also for the entire city and supporters of KKR as we believe that the puja will give them a reason to smile and celebrate the team`s victory in IPL 4," he said.

All the rituals would be performed as usual during the puja with the help of a priest who will also conduct a `yagna` on the day of Asthami.

To please the Goddess, the supporters would also offer a `pushpanjali` with 101 lotuses.

"Led by the slogan of `Korbo Lorbo Jeetbo!` (we will do it, fight it, and win it), KKR is impassioned by courage, youth, talent, ambition, focus and dedication. And our puja will showcase this never-say-die spirit of the team," Roy said.

The fans, however, will not follow the practice of immersing the idols in water after the rituals are over.

"We will go to Mumbai on his birthday on November 2 to present the idol to Shahrukh Khan himself. It will be kept in the Red Chillies office or SRK`s residence `Mannat` forever," he said.

Despite being one of the most popular IPL teams due to the involvement of superstar Shahrukh Khan, the Sourav Ganguly-led KKR is the only team to have never made it to any of the IPL semi-finals.

However, as per a study done by Brand Finance, a UK-based brand valuation company, the Knights are valued at 46 million US dollars, the second most valuable IPL franchise brand.