Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan is the co-owner of the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), however, it was not the first team he wanted to buy.
In a recent interview, IPL founder Lalit Modi revealed that the Bollywood star was interested in buying Mumbai Indians (MI), however, he later bid for the KKR after Reliance Industries bought the MI.
“His (Shah Rukh Khan) first choice was Mumbai, but Mukesh Ambani took that. Kolkata was his eventual pick. But Shah Rukh’s real contribution was in making cricket entertaining,” he said.
Modi recalled the Bollywood actor’s hesitation to invest in the IPL franchise after he pitched the idea to him in 2008.
“Shah Rukh told me, ‘Lalit bhai, I don’t know anything about cricket,’” Lalit Modi said, adding that the Bollywood was holding a football at the time, playing with his son Aryan Khan.
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However, Modi managed to convince him, saying that the IPL would be “bigger than his films.”
According to the IPL founder, Shah Rukh Khan’s involvement in the IPL with the KKR played a pivotal role in the success of the tournament as it attracted the attention of his fans around the world.
It is to be noted here that Khan is co-owner of KKR alongside fellow Bollywood actor Juhi Chawla and her husband Jay Mehta.
Ahead of the inaugural edition of the IPL, Reliance Industries bought the Mumbai Indians for a whopping $111.9 million while KKR cost the owners $75.09 million.
On the work front, the Bollywood superstar is gearing up to begin filming for his next project, Sujoy Ghosh’s action-thriller ‘King’, also featuring his only daughter Suhana and actor Abhishek Bachchan in pivotal roles.
