Lalit Modi Interview Drops On Eve Of Mega Auction, Says Shah Rukh Khan Is ‘Pillar Of IPL’ – News18

Last Updated:November 24, 2024, 00:22 IST

Shah Rukh Khan bought KKR in 2008. The actor has remained the face of the team for 16 years now.

Indian Premiere League aka IPL founder Lalit Modi sat down for a rare interview ahead of the IPL mega auction 2025, set to take place on Sunday. In the interview, Lalit revisited the inception of what is now one of the biggest cricketing tournaments in the world. During the chat, Lalit recalled several anecdotes, including the tale of Shah Rukh Khan’s addition to the tournament.

In the interview, Lalit dubbed Shah Rukh as the ‘pillar’ of IPL and credited him to expanding the demography of the tournament to women and children. “Shah Rukh was a pillar of IPL because it has to do with viewership,” Lalit admitted, while speaking with Raj Shamani on his podcast. “Shah Rukh was pivotal in me getting a bid but it still didn’t make any difference in the IPL. It became big news,” he added.

“For me, Shah Rukh was going to bring in women and children into the game. Women and children were extremely important for IPL to click in terms of viewership. That’s why the music, that’s why the girls, the youngsters coming in, that’s why the cheerleaders were there, good music, festival coming to town, lot of activities around it. That would only show when the game is played,” he shared.

Revisiting the first match RCB vs KKR, Lalit recalled Shah Rukh brought his friends to the match. “I said to myself to get people in the stadium, I need Shah Rukh Khan. So we got people into the stadium, I didn’t see the first game. I could not watch it because I was in the locker room, sweating until Brendon McCullum comes and hits the 158, it’s game over. I dedicated to Brendon McCullum. Shah Rukh could get the people in, keep the people in today, he is what he is. If it wasn’t for Shah Rukh Khan, Brendon McCullum — who hit the 158 on day 1 and lit up Indian screen — it would have been another matter all together,” he said.

“In year one, we had to pay celebrities to come and attend. In year two, they came on their own. In year three, they wanted us to invite them to the game because everybody wanted to become a part of the game. In year 1, after they saw Shah Rukh Khan, somebody took Deepika as their brand ambassador, somebody took someone else as the brand ambassador, somebody took Akshay Kumar. Film stars brought a lot to the game,” Lalit said.

Shah Rukh Khan’s First Choice For IPL Team Was Mumbai:

In the same chat, Lalit revealed that Shah Rukh was eyeing the buy the Mumbai team but he was short on funds. “Shah Rukh told me, ‘I don’t know about this but I will build (a team).’ I said, ‘You at least try bidding,'” Lalit said.

“He put 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, wo bhi gayi. Shah Rukh’s bid was much lower, about 80 to 85 million. All these (the mentioned cities) were over 100 million. Chennai was also over 100. Delhi was over 100, Hyderabad was over 100! Shocking. Kolkata was next in line,” Lalit shared, thus revealing the story behind Kolkata Knight Riders.

16 years on, Shah Rukh continues to co-own Kolkata Knight Riders with Juhi Chawla and her husband Jay Mehta. SRK’s kids and Juhi’s kids have also gotten involved in the team. Shah Rukh’s son Aryan Khan and Juhi’s daughter Jhanvi were seen at the auctions last year.