Indian Premier League (IPL) season is all set to start, and ahead of the same the founder of IPL, Lalit Modi shared some anecdotes on how the game originated and how it then transformed one of the most famous cricket tournaments in the world. He also spilled tea about Shah Rukh Khan’s interest in the game, how he came on board and what was his initial choice of team. Yes, you read that right, Kolkata Knight Riders wasn’t King Khan’s first choice, he wanted to be the owner of some other city.
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While talking to Raj Shamani on his podcast, Lalit Modi revealed that when the season originated, anyone could bid for any city. Though today Kolkata Knight Riders has gained popularity and love worldwide, when Shah Rukh decided to own a team, he tried to acquire cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, and Ahmedabad before he finally settled on Kolkata.
Mr. Modi said that Shah Rukh Khan had a keen interest in bidding for teams in Ahmedabad or Mumbai. However, his bid was lower and thus, he settled with ‘Kolkata Knight Riders’. SRK’s first choice was Mumbai, but Mukesh Ambani’s bid won over his. Thereafter, he wanted Banglore but then Vijay Mallya secured it, and a similar thing happened with Delhi.
Lalit Modi also shared the figures from the first season. He said Shah Rukh’s bid was around 70-80 million for the cities he wanted, but the bids of around 100 million won the game. When he got KKR, the team was at 85-87 million.
Further, Lalit Modi stated SRK is very important to the IPL, as his charm brings more crowd, especially females. “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,” he said.