Saturday, May 25th 10:06 PM IST
 

Kolkata has gone overboard with KKR’s IPL win

Arun George

Celebrations are to be expected when a local team wins a sporting event. What one does not expect is the Chief Minister to take credit for their win, mismanaged crowds and general chaos. Remember the victory rally we had when India won the One Day International World Cup in 2011? You don’t? Well that’s because it wasn’t held. The IPL may be the richest cricket tournament but it isn’t its biggest. What Kolkata has done is take away the joy of a sporting victory and made it something much uglier and more comical.  read less read more

Anant Rangaswami

KKR is a team which has the city’s name inextricably attached to it. The team’s owner, Shah Rukh Khan, has been appointed as brand ambassador for West Bengal. For a year, the citizens have not had anything worth celebrating. The fact that KKR has no Bengali in the team is but a detail; teams like Arsenal have played with no Englishman in the team; yet that doesn’t stop the London team’s very London-based supporters from reveling in the team or from ‘owning’ the team. As adidas showed in their new commercial, teams ‘belong’ to the fans – and team KKR belongs to Kolkatans. Let them enjoy their moment in the sun – let them celebrate. read less read more