"Shahrukh Khan was lying down on a kit bag while the entire team sat on a sofa" - Salman Butt on his dressing room experience during IPL
Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt recalled his experience of playing in the IPL in 2008 and the time spent with Kolkata Knight Riders owner Shahrukh Khan.
Butt hailed Khan as a down-to-earth person after coming across the Bollywood superstar in the dressing room.
Butt was one of the many Pakistan players who participated in the inaugural edition of the IPL. The opener played for the franchise alongside the likes of Mohammad Hafeez, Umar Gul and Shoaib Akhtar.
However, he played only seven games, scoring one fifty.
In a YouTube video, Butt recalled how Shahrukh Khan was lying on a kitbag in the dressing room chatting with the players, who sat comfortably on a sofa. The 37-year-old said the actor hardly behaved like an owner, elaborating:
"Shahrukh Khan gave the Knight Riders helmet to all the players. It was a heavy one. Speaking about the owners, Shahrukh Khan and Juhi Chawla were there. They mixed two of the biggest industries - Cricket and Bollywood.
"The launch itself was a big hit because everything was under one roof. It was also a different experience for us and I remember meeting Shahrukh Khan in the dressing room. He was lying down on a kit bag while the entire team sat on a sofa, chatting with the players.
"He is very down to earth, easy going, and looked after the players. There was nothing like an owner."
Khan's company Red Chillies Entertainment bought the franchise together with Juhi Chawla and her husband Jay Mehta for approximately 2.98 billion rupees in 2008 when the BCCI created the tournament.
KKR is one of the most successful teams and has won the competition twice - in 2012 and 2014.
"I joined the team after five matches as Pakistan had a series with Bangladesh" - Salman Butt
The former opener also spoke about when Shahrukh Khan motivated the players after a string of losses by relating life to the sport. In this regard, he added:
"I joined the team after five matches as Pakistan had a series with Bangladesh. When I reached, seven or eight games were remaining and I played five or six. That time, the team had lost two or three fixtures. He held a team meeting and spoke to the players for 15-20 minutes, trying to motivate them.
"So, I think that part was also very good and different. It was coming from a guy who related life with cricket. So, I think he was very down to earth and somebody who you could speak to anything."
Good to hav our 100th IPL match win. Well done boys...@KKRiders @prasidh43 @DineshKarthik @NitishRana_27 #Rahul @Russell12A @harbhajan_singh ( good to see u even if briefly )@Sah75official @patcummins30 actually all were so good to watch.
Even though KKR had a brilliant start to their campaign, they couldn't make it to the semi-finals. They lost seven out of 13 games and finished sixth.