Not being able to follow the game (ESPN, please get that bid for next year! We're all counting on you!), I'm following IPL by reading any material I can get my hands on from fan comments to disreputable tabloid reports to video news to incomprehensible scoreboard clippings. I want to get the feel of what this tournament is about. The only sports I've ever followed was tennis, and after Sampras was not in the running anymore, I've lost my motivation to care about it. That was a long time ago. Shah Rukh got me interested in sports again, and that too cricket! A game that's not even covered in the sports section of our national news.
My posting in this blog won't be complete if I don't write about KR-related stuff while IPL is still cooking in the oven. There're new interviews out (I don't want him to give more interviews but I'm happy to be able to read them nonetheless, what a conundrum XD) ...and I think it should satisfy the curiosity of those who earnestly want to know about the future of KR from the POV of the owners. The rest of you cynical, nihilistic ex-KR fans can stay away from this post coz the sheer wattage from his positive message will blind you forever. Much as I think you deserve that fate, I don't want to be held accountable for depriving the cricket world of much-needed aspiring IPL team owners, would-be coaches/asst. coaches, and budding professional cricket strategists. Please continue to spam SRK's blog with your unsolicited advices on what the team should do to get back on track. What would SRK and KR do without your expert analysis and brilliant counteraction suggestions, o sage ones?
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He returned to vote, now he’s shooting for Karan Johar, getting kids Aryan and Suhana ready for school, while watching his IPL team Knight Riders take a beating in South Africa over television like you and me. Tuesday night, it was like that again, with the Bollywood Badshah’s knights losing poorly to Delhi in Durban and thereby becoming the first of the eight teams to bite the dust in the race to the semis.
Shah Rukh, however, was not in mourning. “What can I say,” he laughed, “we’ve had a string of losses, but we haven’t lost motivation, what we’ve got to do is see where we take the team from here. Some of the matches were close and almost broke our hearts. But the others were complete losses. We had nothing to prove. So I told the boys, go out and have fun!”
He’s aware that the Knight Riders, despite being written off as the worst-performing team in the IPL, is the most valued brand of the T20 tournament. The Economic Times pegged its brand value at $42.1 million, followed closely by Mumbai Indians at $41.6 million and Team Rajasthan at $39.5 million. “Personally, that doesn’t make me happy,” Shah Rukh regretted. “What is a brand? I, as an actor, am a brand... and that puts pressure on myself to perform better and make sure my films do well. Brand is all about giving quality content. Our cricket content has to improve if it is to be deserving of the top brand spot. That didn’t happen last year. So we tried harder. It didn’t happen this year. Now we need to build the brand up again from scratch on content... rather than other social aspects. I’m happy, of course, that the business is doing well, we have the maximum sponsors and are making money. But the money needs to be put where the product is.”
The team’s hopes have perished this IPL as well, but he isn’t ready to look at the next season as yet. “I believe when you’re down, you shouldn’t take decisions; and when you’re up, you shouldn’t either. Just step back and relook at the situation. That’s what I’m doing,” said the actor.
Did his absence in South Africa affect the morale of the team? “Not really,” replied Shah Rukh. “I had decided at the start to be with them for 15 days. The boys are depressed, they can’t do more, and my being around only makes it worse for them. My presence in the dressing room makes them break down. I’m fond of all of them and they like me. But my goodness comes in the way of losses. The defeat gets highlighted because I own the team. They feel worse because they think Shah Rukh Khan has been let down and is hurt... though I don’t show it. Whereas when I’m away, they’re able to go out and play cricket normally.”
Does he have a Chak De! message for his disheartened team? “They are all professional players, they play cricket the whole year, and win or lose... they just get on with the next game. I can’t tell them how to play. But I hang around them. Some players are cynical in defeat. Others raring to go. I meet the two up, sit and chat with them, tell them not to be disturbed. We have lost as a team, we don’t have what it takes to win, and we can’t go on depending on hope. I really can’t find fault with anyone. The idea is we go up and come down together. If I jump up and cheer when somebody hits a six then I must also be prepared to go down with them when they fail. The important thing in sports is that it teaches you how to lose, but not to become a loser. Sports always gives you the chance to come back. It’s a great leveller. The whole success in my life is because I think like a sportsman. There’s always another chance. But I wish I didn’t have to learn this lesson so fast!”
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MUMBAI: Shah Rukh Khan's team Kolkata Knight Riders is languishing at the bottom of the pile and critics are wondering as to why SRK is not throwing out John Buchanan, why is Brendon McCullum still playing when he is not in any form, why is SRK not taking stern action like Vijay Mallya did with his management in the first edition of IPL, when they were not performing?
In an interview with Businessofcinema.com prior to the start of the IPL, SRK had said, “The team should not feel that we have to perform for the sake of the owners. They are too young to go through that kind of pressure and Juhi, Jay Mehta or I would not want them to feel like that. They have to believe that they need to play well for themselves.”
And true to his word, SRK never put any pressure on his boys, but he certainly showed his displeasure at their performance by leaving the Rainbow country. The team has been trimmed but certainly no cricketer or staff has been given the pink slip, yet.Decisions will certainly be taken post the tournament.
But whilst the tournament is on, the momentum is not broken, because Khan believes in giving everybody a fair chance and as the saying goes, in cricket, one never knows until the last ball is bowled. And in the IPL with still five more games to go, with international cricketers leaving to play for their country, fortunes are changing ever day. There are still no clear favourites yet, and anything can be expected as the competition progresses.
On Mr B's planet though, things are becoming quite surreal with him asking people to stop blaming McCullum for the losses. Oh, oh... better yet, he's now resorted to putting the blame on... guess who? The whole bleeding team! Mr B, dude... all tens of our fingers are pointing your way and if you still haven't realized that, you don't have a business coaching a professional team in a high-stake game coz you're so bloody clueless. And Waugh, surprisingly or not really surprisingly given that Mr B is a countrymate, is now asking people to stop blaming Mr B. He's also been talking quite a bit about how KR may still be able to make a comeback and pointedly stated that Dada could be the key! How surprising that the team's own coach didn't realise this at the start of this year's IPL! It could have saved us fans a lot of heartache!!! (I want to put more exclamation marks but my fingers got tired of typing)
I don't get these Aussie dudes. Honestly, it's like a brakeless merry-go-round... or, what's that game again? Ring around the rosie? I hope none of them would fall into a heap at the end of the tournament and drag KR down with them, although some of you might say it's too late to hope for that. News are going around that Mr B's gonna get sacked after IPL 2 (I chose this article coz it has a nice sexy lady in the ad, not coz it's the most reliable of the lot) but I guess that may depend on whether SRK can get a better coach to replace our genius motivator. Take note that I've never blamed SRK for supporting Buchanan's decisions. I mean, Mr B and Mr B's family members and friends have been paid big bucks to ensure us a good game. It'll be really iffy then if his employers turn around and support outsiders, like Mr G and the rest of the esteemed legendary cricket experts, instead of backing up his decisions.
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