Kolkata Knight Riders was not Shah Rukh Khan's first choice
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) is one of the most successful teams in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL), having won three titles since 2008. Off the pitch, the team has a massive fan base in West Bengal and across India, given that Bollywood's Badshah Shah Rukh Khan owns the team.
Have you ever wondered why Shah Rukh Khan purchased KKR in the first place? He moved to Mumbai in the 1990s to act, but he and his family are from Delhi. So, why did an actor living in Mumbai and hailing from Delhi settle for a team representing Kolkata and West Bengal in the IPL?
The auction for franchises took place in January 2008. Shah Rukh, along with Juhi Chawla and Jay Mehta, had entered the auction hoping to secure Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, or Ahmedabad. However, Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru proved to be the most expensive.
Bengaluru and Mumbai surpassed the 100-million-US-dollar barrier, whereas Delhi was also picked at 84 million US dollars.
Back in the 2008 franchise auction, KKR became the third most economical franchise. The team cost only 75.09 million US dollars, which was a steal of a deal for Khan, Juhi and Mehta.
Ahmedabad was out of the question after Khan lost Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi because back in 2008, Kolkata had a greater advantage in terms of infrastructure and the popularity of cricket, which had seen growth due to Sourav Ganguly.
Comedian and host Kapil Sharma once asked a question similar to Shah Rukh Khan's, i.e., why did the actor buy KKR despite being a Delhi lad living in Mumbai? King Khan, in a humorous way, replied, "The basic reason for this is, you'll also understand. In Delhi, whenever there is a match, you have to give out a lot of free passes, you must have also given many here. There's no earning potential in the stadium here in Delhi. They don't let you enter Wankhede, and there's no entry there. So, wherever I found warmth, I went there," as quoted by ABP Live.
While Shah Rukh Khan got away with a humorous answer, it was Lalit Modi who revealed why Shah Rukh Khan picked KKR. On the Raj Shamani podcast, Lalit Modi explained why the other teams were not within Khan's budget and said he had settled for KKR.
Modi also added, "For me, Shah Rukh was going to bring in women and children into the game. Women and children were extremely important for the IPL to click in terms of viewership."
Having won its third title in 2024, KKR is 2025's defending champion, but the team is going through a mid-season crisis. Standing on the verge of elimination, as of May 2nd, KKR has four remaining games that the team must win if it wishes to reach the four for the qualifiers.
