As the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) season approaches, IPL founder Lalit Modi recalled the launch of the world’s biggest cricketing spectacle. He credited Shah Rukh Khan for his instrumental role in broadening the tournament’s appeal, emphasizing that SRK’s involvement was crucial in drawing women and children to the sport—an essential factor in enhancing the league’s audience engagement and popularity.
“For me, Shah Rukh Khan 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. For it to work, we kept SRK vs Vijay Mallya on the first day. Two most glamorous people, full of life and they live life king size,” Lalit said on the Raj Shamani podcast.
“While Vijay would throw parties for us, SRK would bring his friends and all the stars into the stadium and we needed that. We only sold day 1 tickets and the day 2 tickers were not at all sold. I thought to get people into the stadium we need Shah Rukh Khan,” he added.
KKR was not SRK’s first choice
While Shah Rukh Khan’s Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) has become one of the most cherished franchises in the IPL, Lalit Modi disclosed that Kolkata was not the actor’s initial preference.
Modi revealed that SRK initially expressed greater interest in acquiring franchises based in cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, or Ahmedabad before ultimately settling on Kolkata.
“Shah Rukh Khan’s main interest was bidding for Ahmedabad or Mumbai. It was all about the top bid. He put a low number for Ahmedabad and ended up getting Kolkata. But, his first choice was Mumbai, however, Mukesh Ambani took it. Then, his second choice was Banglore, which was taken by Vijay Mallya. Then his third choice was Delhi which was also taken by another bidder. His bid was much lower, around 85 million, whereas all these teams were above 100 billion, like Chennai, shockingly Hyderabad was 100 billion.”
Read more: IPL Pioneer Lalit Modi Accuses CSK of Umpire Fixing, Rigging Auctions
Jasir Basharat is a cricket enthusiast capturing the heart of the game through insightful analysis and storytelling sharing his passion for the sport through engaging narratives. He is a business graduate from University of Kashmir.
