"I had belief that I am thinking my team into victory" - Shahrukh Khan on KKR's title wins in IPL
Bollywood superstar and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) co-owner Shahrukh Khan is arguably one of the most passionate joint-owners in the IPL. He often visits the stadiums to support his team and if that was not possible, congratulates them on social media whenever they won.
Shahrukh Khan did what he could in Kolkata's title wins in 2012 and 2014 as well. He was present in the stands and cheering his team on despite the side chasing totals in excess of 190 both times.
𝘒𝘦𝘩𝘵𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘳 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘪 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘻 𝘬𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘭 𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘩𝘰 𝘵𝘰𝘩… 🏆💜
@iamsrk #AmiKKR #IPL2014 https://t.co/Se2dn2ktkA
Speaking in a video posted by KKR on Twitter, here's what Khan had to say about how he supports his beloved team:
"I had this belief that I am thinking my team into victory. And both times it has happened, that it goes numb."
Umesh Yadav on KKR's memorable 2014 final win
Knight Riders speedster Umesh Yadav was a part of the team that won the IPL title in 2014. He recalled the final against the Kings XI Punjab, where a hundred from Wriddhiman Saha put Punjab in a great position.
But the speedster also stressed how magnificent Manish Pandey's knock was for the Knight Riders, as his 94 set up the highest chase in an IPL final. On this, Yadav stated:
"In the final, Punjab scored a massive total of 200. Wriddhiman Saha played a brilliant knock. We knew we could chase it down because the pitch was flat and slow. But even we lost wickets at the top. Manish Pandey batted really well, playing a knock of 94 and took the team out of trouble."
𝘬𝘪 𝘬𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘪, 𝘜𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘩 𝘣𝘩𝘢𝘪 𝘬𝘪 𝘻𝘶𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘪! 2⃣0⃣1⃣4⃣ 𝘬𝘪 𝘬𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘪, 𝘜𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘩 𝘣𝘩𝘢𝘪 𝘬𝘪 𝘻𝘶𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘪! 💜
@y_umesh #AmiKKR #IPL2014 https://t.co/CwwN5floVQ
All-rounder Piyush Chawla scored the winning runs and the entire Kolkata dressing room was on the ground celebrating. Recalling those celebrations, Yadav added:
"After Piyush Chawla scored that winning shot, there was just mayhem in the ground. When I came to KKR, in the first year itself we became champions, so it was a different level of feeling. It was a young squad and we thoroughly enjoyed our journey."
Former Knight Riders skipper Gautam Gambhir played an instrumental role in converting the underachievers into two-time IPL champions. The franchise will be hoping that current captain Shreyas Iyer will be the man to bring the glory days back to Kolkata.