Shah Rukh Khan unveils Kolkata Knight Riders

KHAN’S KNIGHTS: Shah Rukh Khan, team owner of Kolkata Knight Riders, unveils the team T-shirt. Also seen are coach John Buchanan (left) and captain Sourav Ganguly.

KOLKATA: One of the eight Indian Premier League teams, Kolkata Knight Riders, was unveiled by actor Shah Rukh Khan along with the team coach John Buchanan and captain Sourav Ganguly at an impressive function on Tuesday.

Part owners Jay Mehta, his wife and actress Juhi Chawla and the president of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) Prasun Mukherjee were also present.

Shah Rukh said, “we are here to play to win.” Explaining the name of the team he said it was chosen keeping the youth in mind. “It should be appealing to kids,” and added “you have to play cricket like football in Kolkata.”

Rationale


Shah Rukh explained the rationale behind the team’s attire in black and gold. He said black symbolised Goddess Kali while gold symbolised the team’s belief, “we are hear to win the battle of life.” Shah Rukh added, “we will try to bring a lot of happiness and entertainment to all in Kolkata.” Buchanan said, “we are all trying to do our best to put up a good show.” Ganguly said it was a pleasure and honour to be part of the team and to guide its fortunes.

Four home grown players, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Wriddiman Saha, Sourasish Lahiri and under-22 player Rohan Banerjee, were also present. Everyone who is part of the side was presented with a golden helmet each.

Contentious issues


On the contentious issues of complimentary tickets, Shah Rukh said, “I have come to Kolkata to set things right. Like the players, the CAB is also part of us. We are going to sit down and sort out all the outstanding issues amicably.”

The matinee idol said the team anthem was composed and sung by Vishal Shekar; Reebok designed the team’s kit and Manish Malhotra designed the formal clothes.

“Korbo, Lorbo, Jeetbo” (will do, will fight, will win) is the team’s slogan while ‘Hoog Lee’ a Royal Bengal tiger is the mascot.

While taking questions from the media, Shah Rukh said any extra money earned from this venture would be diverted to develop soccer in the state.