IPL 2021: "He reminds me a bit of Kieron Pollard" - Anil Kumble on Shahrukh Khan
Punjab Kings' new recruit Shahrukh Khan has managed to impress the team's head and director of cricket operations, Anil Kumble.
The former Indian captain heaped massive praise on the youngster and even drew parallels with Kieron Pollard. Anil Kumble recollected his experience of bowling to Kieron Pollard in the Mumbai Indians (MI) nets and said that Shahrukh Khan brings a similar skillset to the table.
Anil Kumble said in this regard:
"Yeah, he reminds me a bit of Pollard actually. When I was with Mumbai Indians, Pollard in the nets was dangerous. I used to bowl a bit (in the nets), and the first thing I used to tell him was don't hit straight. Here I'm not even trying. I'm a lot older now, and the body doesn't take the bowling anymore. So, I'm not going to bowl at Shahrukh, for sure".
"It feels amazing to be here" - Shahrukh Khan
Shahrukh Khan has played 31 T20 matches thus far, scoring 293 runs at a strike rate of 131.39. With his batting exploits in the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL), the 25-year-old sparked an intense bidding war for his services in the IPL auction in February.
The Delhi Capitals, the Royals Challengers Bangalore and the Punjab Kings bid for him, with Preity Zinta's franchise acquiring Shahrukh Khan for Rs 5.25 crore.
"Being amongst such stalwarts of cricket, it feels amazing to be here and the inputs have been great. I have been having a lot of conversations with everyone around here, getting to learn a lot as well," Shahrukh Khan has said about his Punjab Kings experience.
Shahrukh Khan said that he was pleasantly surprised that there was a bidding war for his services in the auction.
"The auction started at around 3 PM I guess, and we were practising at the Holkar Stadium, obviously I had to bat and bowl a bit. So I told our physio that 'please let me know when my name comes up. I'll take a break and come and see the auction.' Luckily my name didn't come up, and it didn't bother my batting much. Right after we finished practice and we hopped onto the bus, I still remember sitting on the first seat and my name came up. My heart started pumping, but I didn't expect it to rise as much as it did," Shahrukh Khan added.
Punjab Kings will open their IPL 2021 campaign against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) on April 12 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.