Piyush Chawla says Shah Rukh Khan ‘didn’t utter a word, didn’t interfere’ during KKR’s losing streak: ‘If you win…’ | Bollywood News
Cricketer Piyush Chawla, who played in the Indian Premier League for Shah Rukh Khan’s Kolkata Knight Riders, among other teams, recalled SRK’s demeanour in the face of defeat. He also praised the superstar for not butting in with his opinions about matches that didn’t go in their favour, echoing sentiments shared by numerous past players, as well as KKR mentor Gautam Gambhir.
Asked if Shah Rukh scolded the team mid-season, Piyush said in an appearance on the 2 Sloggers podcast, “Shah Rukh bhai doesn’t utter a word. Never. If you win, nobody is happier than him, but he never interferes, and that’s the best thing about him. The way he speaks when you’ve lost, or you’re down, you don’t feel like you’ve lost at all. The way he motivated us, he’s somebody who’s a class apart.”
Also read – Juhi Chawla says Shah Rukh Khan would call KKR meeting at Mannat in the middle of the night: ‘I stopped attending’
Appearing on cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin’s YouTube channel, Gambhir had said that SRK is the ‘best owner’ that he has ever worked with. “In the seven years of me captaining, we had not spoken 70 seconds about cricket. He had never asked me a single question on cricket in those seven years. Can you imagine?” he said.
On a podcast with Manjot Kalra, Ramandeep Singh said that when KKR lost against the Punjab Kings, SRK came to the dressing room and gave them a pep talk. “Our entire core group had a meeting. Shah Rukh sir was also there, and that was a game-changing moment for our team. Shah Rukh sir gave a speech there. He usually doesn’t speak much, and is not that involved, but his speech that day gave all of us goosebumps. He told us what he expected from us, and what we should do. He reminded us of where we had come from, and where we want to go. He relates a lot to a middle-class family, because he also hails from one, so he feels our journey is very relatable to him,” Ramandeep said.
Shah Rukh himself had spoken about the atmosphere inside the KKR dressing room after the team’s recent IPL victory. He told Star Sports, “We have a rule: whenever I go to team meetings, the discussion is always that everyone will play however they want, but this time let’s make Gautam dance. He has been kind. Out of the three times we have been together, he has come twice. But that was a day match, and the matches were in the morning, but we will get there.”
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