Cheteshwar Pujara, who also played for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), recalled post-match parties in the Indian Premier League. The batter didn’t make it to the starting XI in 2021, and it was his last stint in the cash-rich league.
Pujara recently came to Cheeky Singles and opened up on the late-night celebrations. However, he was very particular about his lifestyle and didn’t spend much time at the parties. He would get up early to have breakfast, but other players were not present due to the late-night parties.
“My dad was my coach when I started playing at eight. He told me to get up early and go for practice sessions. In IPL, the matches are generally played in the evening, and then there are parties as well. The parties started at 1:30 or 2 AM, and I made sure to reach the place on time. However, the players came by 3. I would stay for some time before leaving the place. I would get up by 7:30 in the morning for breakfast. I thought I was not the only one who was getting up early in the morning before realising that none of the players slept the whole night and came directly for breakfast and then went to the room to sleep,” he said.
Pujara also revealed his fanboy moment when he met Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan during his first stint in the league. Kolkata Knight Riders bought the right-handed batter.
“Every cricketer has a fanboy moment. I started playing for KKR, and SRK was the owner of the franchise. It was the fanboy moment when I met him. When you think about the sport, you can’t think of being in the franchise because he is the owner. You want to play for the team because of the environment. I wanted to stay there because of the chances, but you can’t also ignore the fanboy moment,” he added.
Pujara played just 30 IPL matches and amassed 390 runs at an average of 20.52 with one fifty.
Irfan Pathan recalls incident involving Punjab Kings co-owner Preity Zinta
Irfan, who played for Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the Indian Premier League, recalled a story involving the franchise and the co-owner Preity Zinta. After losing a few games, the players were motivated by the Bollywood actor.
“I joined Punjab Kings because of my love for parathas. We lost a few games in South Africa, and everyone was under pressure. Preity Zinta promised us an Indian food party if we won the next game. We won the contest, and she arranged everything for us. She fulfilled her promise. We are cricketers and playing cricket is our profession. She is a lovely lady. She used to get upset when we lost matches and made sure to attend the meeting. She spoke to players but never got angry,” he said.
Irfan was with Kings XI Punjab (now PBKS0 for three seasons and took 47 wickets from 42 matches at an average of 24.81. He scored 603 runs at a strike rate of 131.09.