That day was 5th May 2012. It is written everywhere that this is a test of loyalty – are you with Dada i.e. Sourav Ganguly or with KKR? What is this? Both of them are from Kolkata. Some were saying – If you can support both then why take one name? That day, that IPL match, had divided a packed Eden Gardens into two and there is no other story like it in IPL. The booing of Hardik Pandya this season is nothing in comparison to this. Let's go to that story of 2012.

For Kolkata's own Sourav Ganguly, who was called the 'Prince of Kolkata', his madness was nothing and the proof of this was seen many times. When he was removed as the captain of Team India in the mid-2000s after a dispute with coach Greg Chappell, these fans came out on the streets to support him. The situation was such that Eden Gardens was packed during the ODI and the guests from Kolkata were supporting the South African players because Ganguly was not in Team India.

After the first 3 seasons of IPL, when KKR released Sourav, it was a decision that became the biggest news in Bengal. Not 'No Dada, No Match', they were 'No Dada, No KKR' Were running a campaign. Pune Warriors gave a lifeline to Sourav and made him captain – then there was some peace. This was a very critical point in Ganguly's cricket career – everyone wanted him to succeed but were not sure that it would happen. After all, he was 38 years old and had not even picked up a bat for the last 5 months. He wanted to play IPL – OK, money was a reason but he was enjoying playing. He also wanted to prove that any big team had made a mistake by not selecting him in the auction. Is there any place for these emotions in modern cricket?

On 5 May 2012, the match was Kolkata's own Sourav Ganguly's Pune team against his home city team at the Eden Gardens. Now Bengali cricket lovers are divided – should they support Dada or Kolkata Knight Riders? Everyone knew that anything could happen at Eden Gardens – during the 1996 World Cup semi-final, the bombardment of the ground with bottles and other items was not an old story. KKR captain Gautam Gambhir appealed – the match is against Pune team, not against Sourav Ganguly – so why so much anger?

The challenge before the new team and Sourav Ganguly was to prove themselves. Sourav had not disappointed in the first 4 matches of the season and hence the question at Eden Gardens was why KKR released him? The stadium was packed and the interesting thing was that both the teams were getting a lot of support – it was clear that the crowd was not able to decide how to divide their loyalty.

KKR captain Gautam Gambhir won the toss and chose to bat first. 106 runs in the first 11 overs – even then Pune restricted Kolkata to just 150 runs. The best memory till then was not a stroke, but a superman-like catch by Steven Smith – Yusuf Pathan's big shot at wide long-on was accepted by everyone as a 6 but at the boundary, Smith dived to his left, the ball was in the air. Caught and thrown back into the ground.

The target for Pune was not a big one and everyone was waiting for the moment when Ganguly would come out to bat. Ganguly had restrained himself but the need arose – Pune's wickets kept falling and the score became 55-5 in the 9th over. When Angelo Mathews was at the crease and Ganguly came to bat – the stadium was echoing with noise and applause. Even at the time of the toss, Ganguly had said that it would not be easy for him to play in this environment. Sunil Narine bowled from the start. In the next over, when Jacques Kallis was hit for a four over long-off, applause was heard outside the stadium. It is said that the record of applause for any stroke in IPL still stands till today.

At one time Pune needed 35 runs on 24 balls to win. Then Gambhir called Narine back into the attack. Runs were being scored – Pune started feeling the victory and the match was slipping out of Gambhir's grip. This is where the shock came – Ganguly tried to clear at mid-wicket but Iqbal Abdullah turned the match with a catch. There was silence in the stadium. Ganguly's measured innings of 36 runs had put Pune in a position to win but the team faltered in the last two overs (143-8) and handed Kolkata a 7-run win. There was noise in the stadium again – after our hero went to the pavilion, now of the support of our city's team.

Sourav Ganguly returned from Eden Gardens a hero that day – even though his team lost. There were consecutive defeats while KKR were just 1 point behind table topper Delhi Daredevils. Later Gambhir also admitted that the support he saw for Sourav was amazing and he could not even expect such support in his city Delhi. Even then there was heat in the atmosphere – when KKR players were taking the victory lap, some people threw water pouches on the players. Cricket lovers got what they wanted – Kolkata's victory and Ganguly's good innings. The spectators assumed that their 'grandfather' had played his best cricket and this was the last time he played at Eden Gardens. A big connection is over. KKR is completely Kolkata's team again.