Shah Rukh Khan 'Pillars of IPL'

By Sandy Verma On Nov 24, 2024

Mumbai Mumbai:�Indian Premier League aka IPL founder Lalit Modi sat down for a rare interview ahead of the IPL Mega Auction 2025 on Sunday. In the interview, Lalit reminisced about the beginning of one of the biggest cricket tournaments in the world. During the conversation, Lalit recalled several anecdotes, including the story of Shah Rukh Khan attending the tournament. In the interview, Lalit termed Shahrukh as the 'pillar' of the IPL and credited him for expanding the demographics of the tournament to women and children. Speaking to Raj Shamni on his podcast, Lalit admitted, “Shah Rukh was the pillar of the IPL because it has to do with viewership.” He said, “Shah Rukh played an important role in getting me the bid, but still it did not make any difference in the IPL. It became big news.” “For me, Shahrukh was about bringing women and children into the game. Women and children were extremely important for the IPL to be successful in terms of viewership.

That's why the music, that's why the girls, the young people are coming, that's why the cheerleaders were there, good music, the festival is coming to town, there are a lot of activities around it. It will be known only when the game is played,” he shared. Recalling the first match of RCB vs KKR, Lalit recalled that Shahrukh had brought his friends to the match. “I told myself that the people in the stadium I need Shahrukh Khan. So we brought people to the stadium, I didn't watch the first game. I couldn't see it because I was in the locker room, until Brendon McCullum came in and scored 158, the game was over. I dedicated it to Brendon McCullum. Shahrukh could have brought people, could have retained people today, he is who he is. Had it not been for Shah Rukh Khan, Brendon McCullum – who scored 158 on the first day and created a stir on Indian screens – it would have been a different matter,” he said. “The first year we had to pay celebrities to come,” Lalit said. Fell. The second year he came himself.

The third year they wanted us to invite them to the game because everyone wanted to be a part of the game. After seeing Shahrukh Khan in the first year, someone made Deepika their brand ambassador, someone made someone else, someone made Akshay Kumar. Film stars brought a lot to the game.” Shahrukh Khan's first choice for an IPL team was Mumbai: In the same conversation, Lalit revealed that Shahrukh was considering buying a Mumbai team, but he was short of funds. Lalit Said, “Shah Rukh told me, 'I don't know about this, but I will make (the team).' I said, 'You at least try to bid.'” “They gave different numbers for different cities. He got Kolkata. But his first choice was Mumbai, but Mukesh Ambani got Mumbai. Kolkata was his (fourth) choice. Bangalore was his second choice, Vijay Mallya took Bangalore. His third choice was Delhi, he also went. Shahrukh's bid was very low, around 80 to 85 million. All these (cities mentioned) were over 100 million.

Chennai was also more than 100. Delhi was over 100, Hyderabad was over 100! Shocking. Kolkata was next in line,” shared Lalit, thus revealing the story behind Kolkata Knight Riders. 16 years later, Shah Rukh remains the co-owner of Kolkata Knight Riders along with Juhi Chawla and her husband Jai Mehta. Shahrukh's children and Juhi's children have also joined the team. Shahrukh's son Aryan Khan and Juhi's daughter Jhanvi were seen at the auction last year.