With just months left for the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) season to begin, IPL founder Lalit Modi has given a glimpse into the origins of the world’s biggest cricket tournament. Modi discussed Shah Rukh Khan’s role in the league and how the actor became the owner of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Although KKR has become one of the most loved teams, Modi revealed that KKR was not Khan’s first choice. The actor initially tried to acquire franchises in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Ahmedabad before settling in Kolkata.
In a conversation with Raj Shamani on his podcast, Lalit Modi revealed that anyone could bid for any team during the initial IPL auction. He revealed that Shah Rukh Khan was particularly interested in bidding for teams in Ahmedabad or Mumbai, but his bid was low, so he acquired Kolkata Knight Riders instead.
Modi shared that Mumbai was Khan’s first choice, but Mukesh Ambani secured it. Bengaluru was Shahrukh’s second choice, but it went to Vijay Mallya and his third choice was Delhi, which also went to another bidder.
Modi said Shahrukh’s bid was around Rs 70-80 million, while the bid for these cities was around Rs 100 million. Kolkata, at Rs 85-87 million, where Shah Rukh Khan’s bid was successful.
In the same interview, Modi acknowledged the importance of Shah Rukh Khan to the IPL, saying that his involvement helped attract women and children to the game, which was crucial to the success of the tournament in terms of viewership.
“For me, Shah Rukh was going to bring women and children into the game. Women and children were extremely important for IPL in terms of viewership.”
He further explained how Shahrukh’s presence affected the growth of IPL, “In the first year, we had to pay celebrities to participate in it. By year two, they had come into their own. By the third year, they wanted to be invited because everyone wanted to be a part of the game.
Modi also mentioned that after Shah Rukh’s participation, Deepika Padukone, Akshay Kumar and other celebrities became brand ambassadors, further increasing the popularity of IPL.
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