When Lucknow Super Giants owner Sanjiv Goenka was told by numerologist that 'Supergiants’ won't work

Although team owner Sanjiv Goenka had clarified that he did not consult the numerologist often, the name of his first team "Rising Pune Supergiants" was eventually changed to "Rising Pune Supergiant".

When RPSG Group Chairman Sanjiv Goenka revealed the name of his IPL team on Monday, it left fans surprised.

Most were taken aback because the name "Lucknow Super Giants" was too similar to the previous team owned by the group in 2016 "Rising Pune Supergiants". This, despite a competition to suggest a name in which Goenka admitted that "lakhs and lakhs" of people had participated, disappointed several fans.

And here it is,
Our identity,
Our name.... #NaamBanaoNaamKamao #LucknowSuperGiants @BCCI @IPL @GautamGambhir @klrahul11 pic.twitter.com/OVQaw39l3A

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— Lucknow Super Giants (@LucknowIPL) January 24, 2022

Interestingly, in an interview to Moneycontrol in 2021, Goenka had said that he was told by a numerologist that the name "Supergiants" won't work in his favour.  “A numerologist from Varanasi told me last year, ‘Yeh ‘Supergiants’ chalega nahi (The name Supergiants won’t work for you)’,” Goenka had said.

Although he clarified that he did not consult the Varanasi man often, the name of his first team "Rising Pune Supergiants" was eventually changed to "Rising Pune Supergiant".

In the same year, speaking to Rediff about the name change, Goenka said, "Last year, someone told us you must remove 's', otherwise you won't perform well and we didn't perform well. Obviously, that's not the reason for not performing well, but it didn't hurt us to remove the 's'."

Read more: From 'Giant hugs' to 'Super welcome': How other IPL teams welcomed Lucknow Super Giants

In its first year, Rising Pune Supergiants finished seventh at the points table in IPL 2016. Following it's name change, the then Rising Pune Supergiant made it to the finals in 2017 but lost to Mumbai Indians by one run. It was the team's last IPL game.

The team was brought in along with Gujarat Lions as two-season replacements for Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, who were suspended due to their involvement in illegal betting by their respective owners.  

This time, however, with the space between "Super" and "Giants", fans are eager to see if the Lucknow Super Giants lives up to the expectations when IPL kicks off on April 2, 2022.