‘Pura boeing jahaaz…’: Wasim Akram recalls how Shah Rukh Khan fulfilled a special request for tired KKR players
Shah Rukh Khan is widely recognised as a passionate IPL franchise owner who understands his limits and knows how to stay within them.
Renowned former Pakistan cricketer and ex-coach of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Wasim Akram, recently commended KKR’s owner and Bollywood superstar, Shah Rukh Khan, during an interview with VU Sports. Akram fondly remembered a time when “King Khan” graciously arranged a private flight for the team upon their request.
Reflecting on the 2012 IPL season, Akram shared an anecdote about expressing concerns regarding the players’ fatigue due to late arrivals at match venues.
“I think this happened during the 2012 IPL season. Our knockout match was in Kolkata and I remember we were going to arrive via some place. Shah Rukh Khan was there, so I asked him, ‘Khan saab, ek request hai (Mr Khan, I have a request),” Akram said.
“I said, ‘Ladke bade thak jayenge, hum kal pahunchenge, parso match hai. Toh agar ek private plane (The team will get extremely tired. We’ll reach tomorrow, and the match is the day after. If a private plane could be arranged),” Akram added.
Akram also mentioned how Shah Rukh acted swiftly and without hesitation to arrange everything.
“He said, ‘Thak jayenge ladke? Koi problem nahi (They’ll get tired, you say, no problem). Within one hour, pura Boeing jahaaz khada tha for the whole team,” Akram said.
In an earlier interview, former cricketer Gautam Gambhir shared insights from his tenure as a member of the KKR coaching staff. He emphasized that Shah Rukh Khan, the team owner, never meddled in the team’s strategic decisions.
“Since I have come, 20 days we haven’t spoken about cricket. We don’t talk about cricket. The first thing he told me in 2011 when I met him for the first time, he said, ‘I don’t like anybody telling me how acting needs to be done. I am sure you will not like someone telling you how cricket needs to be played’. I said, ‘Absolutely’. And that was the only conversation I had with him. In the last 20 days, he has not asked me what team are we playing or what is the strategy,” Gambhir said in a chat with Ravichandran Ashwin on YouTube.
Also read| MI vs LSG: What is ESA Day? All you need to know about Mumbai Indians’ special initiative in today’s IPL 2025 match
