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What's the story?
Superstitious fans of the Kerala Blasters, who are enduring a below-par season thus far, have come up with an alternative to seeing their team emerging victorious more often, offering prayers on behalf of the players.
A page on Facebook posted a pic of the receipt obtained after the payment was done for the Puja on behalf of Iain Hume, Keziron Kizito, Rino Anto, Subhasish Roy Chowdhury, and manager David James as well.
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In case you didn't know...
The Kerala Blasters, under the tutelage of former boss Rene Muelensteen and current manager David James, currently occupy sixth place on the table after 10 games with just three wins under their belt, apart from two losses and five tied encounters.
The heart of the Matter
The Blasters, who have not yet found their bearings, even with the presence of some superstars in the lineup such as Iain Hume and CK Vineeth, will need to pull up their socks to make a move up the points table.
While it is understood that superstition plays a huge role in sports, especially in a country such as India, the Blasters fans went one step further by arranging for a Puja in the players' names, triggering the pictures of the receipts obtained from the temple to go viral on social media.
The Puja's cost, which was organised at the Edavetty Sreekrishna Swami Kshethra Devaswom Trust in Idukki district of Kerala, was only a mere Rs10.
While Hume has found some form with a hat-trick following his drought in an initial couple of games, Vineeth has not had a great run of form which could well change with fans making offerings in his name to the Gods above.
What's next?
The Yellows will travel east to take on home team Jamshedpur FC next, before they return home to host FC Goa.
Author's take
Given that the Blasters are looking for some wins on the trot, it remains to be seen if the superstitious activity can stir some energy into the Blasters and bring out better results.
