Indian Cricketer, Named After Shah Rukh Khan, Picks Salman Khan Instead

Tamil Nadu cricketer Shahrukh Khan has spent a lot of his profession carrying a reputation immediately recognisable throughout India, however regardless of the plain connection to Bollywood famous person Shah Rukh Khan, the Tamil Nadu batter has a special superstar on the high of his want record. Shahrukh, who just lately led Kovai Kings to their third Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) title, stated he has not but met the Bollywood famous person he was named after. If he may select, the Tamil Nadu participant would fairly meet Salman Khan than his well-known namesake.

“I actually want to meet Salman Khan greater than Shah Rukh,” the cricketer stated in an unique dialog with IANS.

The 29-year-old has had a number of possibilities to satisfy his well-known namesake throughout his IPL profession, particularly in matches towards Kolkata Knight Riders. Nevertheless, these alternatives by no means got here to fruition since Shah Rukh Khan was absent from the video games.

“I have never (met him) as but. I have never met Shah Rukh Khan as but. However yeah, hope to satisfy him quickly. We performed fairly a number of matches towards KKR. However I truly missed the chance to satisfy Shah Rukh Khan. He clearly didn’t come for the sport. If he would have come, clearly, I might have met him. However you realize, I actually want to meet Salman Khan greater than Shahrukh,” he stated.

The assembly with Shah Rukh Khan is perhaps particularly intriguing for the cricketer. Since he was born after the Bollywood star, Shahrukh is conscious that he was named after the actor and is raring to see how the famous person responds after they lastly meet.

“No, I’ll look forward to his response first. As a result of I used to be born after him. So, I used to be named after him. So, I hope, I’ve heard that he has obtained an uncanny sense of humour. Clearly, I’m good pals with Varun Chakravarthy. And he stated that he’s a extremely great particular person at coronary heart .And ready to see what kind of an uncanny sense of humour he has. And yeah, actually excited to satisfy him,” he stated.

Whereas his identify has typically been a speaking level, Shahrukh has carved out his personal identification in Tamil Nadu cricket over the previous a number of years.

He has been a part of the state’s cricket circuit for about 20 years and has emerged as certainly one of Tamil Nadu’s main white-ball gamers. His journey has taken him to the IPL, the place he has performed for a number of franchises and, most just lately, represented Gujarat Titans.

The latest achievement was within the TNPL, the place he guided Kovai Kings to their third championship. The group beat Madurai Panthers by 84 runs within the ultimate, making them solely the second group within the event’s historical past to safe three titles.

Shahrukh sees the TNPL’s significance extending past his private achievements. He considers the event an important stepping stone for younger cricketers in Tamil Nadu, having already facilitated a number of gamers’ progress to the IPL and different greater tiers of home cricket.

“Yeah, TNPL has been a platform for lots of gamers from Tamil Nadu together with me, Natarajan, Varun Chakravarthy, numerous gamers and the way in which the event has grown over time is simply immense. And never simply TNPL however the different leagues that occur round India as properly. However the first home event for a state T20 was TNPL and really lucky to be part of this event,” he stated.

“And yearly, you see new skills developing. I hope even this yr, the IPL scouts see a number of skills and picks in order that the event grows even larger subsequent yr,” he added.

Shahrukh’s personal TNPL marketing campaign was significantly vital following a troublesome IPL 2026 season with Gujarat Titans.

The batter struggled to make the specified affect within the IPL and was dropped from the enjoying XI halfway by means of the event. Shahrukh additionally revealed that he used the break to deal with a technical difficulty in his batting and returned to the TNPL with larger confidence.

“I used to be having a technical flaw in my batting. I had a technical flaw which was hampering my batting rather a lot from the final 7-8 months. I’ve actually come again from IPL and labored on it. My entrance foot was going too far throughout which I by no means used to try this earlier than. Yeah, I had a correct couple of months in between the place I may deal with my method and get as tight as potential in that,” he stated.

–IANS

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