Chennai, May 5: The Nageshwari Amman (Mother Goddess) has for years been holding court inside the small temple (in pix) under a banyan tree at Chepauk, the only stadium to have a full-fledged shrine inside its complex. Now she is said to be blessing the Super Kings, one of the strongest teams in the IPL so far, unmindful of the fact that Bollywood music and Sivamani’s drums overpower the melam during the daily 6 pm aarti, and that security men are busy stopping the inflow of her ticket-less devotees.

The legacy of the temple in Chennai has been rather pronounced — the Super Kings had organised a special navagraham puja (worship of nine planetary gods) before their first two home matches, and won. They skipped prayers ahead of their third home match, in which Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir massacred their bowling attack.

Already there’s a clamour to organise an abhishekam to appease the deity ahead of their fourth home game against the Deccan Chargers on Tuesday.

Locals give you numerous anecdotes about the connection between the temple, in existence for 25 years, and cricket at Chepauk. In the past, the president of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) used to organise special prayers asking the deity to stop rain interruptions in Test matches.

The practice was discontinued in between and followers cite example of a series of washouts to prove that it made a difference. It was only because one of the members organised a ceremony ahead of the India-South Africa Test match, they say, that it went through smoothly.

“When the grand stand was being built and lights being installed for one-day cricket, there were constant construction collapses. Then, a special prayer was held and there’s not even been a crack after that,” says Panniselvam, a volunteer at the temple.

“It used to be a small temple, but in 2000 we expanded it thanks to donations from Madras Cricket Club members and other devotees. There have been no objections to the temple inside the stadium premises for long. There were some members who protested initially, but the next day itself, many came forward and donated Rs 25,000 for expanding the temple. They say Ammai came in their dreams that night and advised them,” says Sathyanathan, the secretary of the temple.

Kumaraswamy is the sole priest, and he too is fond of cricket. “I only watch Test cricket, but my son goes to watch IPL matches,” he says. Test cricket, pyjama cricket, and now tamasha cricket — the deity at Chepauk, has presided over the sport through changing times and formats.