The Zoya Factor

The Zoya Factor is a novel written by Anuja Chauhan that revolves around a protagonist named Zoya Singh Solanki. She is an executive in an advertising agency and it is her work that causes the first meeting between her and the younger players of the Indian cricket team. The team gets intrigued at the fact that Zoya was born precisely at that moment when India won the World Cup in 1983.

Soon the Indian cricket team players find out that whenever they get a chance to have breakfast with Zoya prior to the match, it becomes lucky for them and results in victory on the field. Moreover, when they cannot get to eat with her it causes defeat. All these situations make the young players think that Zoya is a lucky charm for them. And then the country goes a step beyond. Everybody is astounded to see the increasing number of victories with the presence of Zoya and soon she is declared to be a Goddess.

The Zoya Factor is a heart-tugging story that further relates how Zoya gets compelled to accompany the Indian cricket team for the tenth ICC World Cup. The eccentric IBCC president and his Swamiji persuade her to accompany the team and they offer her an all expense paid vacation. The only condition is that she needs to have breakfast with the team before every single match.

On the one hand, she is wooed by Cola majors and on the other hand she is coaxed by international cricket boards. The cricket fans start worshipping Zoya and she has no other choice but to agree to go for the 2010 World Cup. She tries hard to stay on the ground without being influenced by the World Cup action. However, there is one man who does not believe in her charms and keeps on reminding her that the Indian cricket team does not need any luck to win. He is the erratically brilliant new skipper, Nikhil Khoda. As Zoya constantly struggles to do her bit for Indian cricket, Nikhil flatly denies her role in any of the victories.