MUMBAI: Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan has christened his Kolkata team as Kolkata Knight Riders for the twenty-20 cricket tournament Indian Premier League (IPL). The team is co-owned by Juhi Chawla and led by former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly.
The team's song 'Korbo, Lorbo, Jeetbo,' which means "We will do it, fight it and win it," has been chosen in order to appeal to the youth of the country.
SRK also unveiled the team's logo and the mascot - a spiky haired royal Bengal tiger 'Hong Lee.'
The team's jersey is black and gold. "We are here to win the battle of life. You never win the Silver. You only lose the Gold. I have followed this maxim in my life and I have been fortunate in that it has served me well. I would like tthis maxim to be passed on to the team," says Khan.
The colour combination of the team’s jersey has been designed by Manish Malhotra. Black is the colour of goddess Kali and the team is aiming for gold, explains the actor. The kit for all the players will be sponsored by Reebok.
Ganguly's team includes Shoaib Akhtar, Ricky Ponting, Chris Gayle, David Hussey, Brendon Mccullum, Umar Gul, Tatenda Taibu, Ajit Agarkar, Ishant Sharma, Murali Kartik, Akash Chopra, Lakshmi Ratan Shukla, R Saha, Sourashish Lahiri and Rohan Bannerjee.
The IPL’s 44-day cricket bonanza will have a total of 59 T20 matches beginning April 18.
King Khan also seems to be on a great wicket with sponsors. According to sources, his company Red Chillies has received as many as 36 proposals for sponsorship. “Almost all brands associated with Shah Rukh want to piggyback on him to the cricket ground as well,” the official said. One of the largest telecom operators and an auto major are close to signing sponsorship deals, it is learnt.
The high-profile IPL has big daddies of India Inc, such as Mukesh Ambani, Vijay Malya and N Srinivasan. who own teams but sources say (K)Night Riders is the most sought after team by sponsors. “Rest in the fray like Reliance, Kingfisher, India Cements and GMR have industrial houses or brands to support. King Khan’s is the only team that doesn’t have industrial brand behind it. That makes it most attractive for sponsors,” an official said.
As has been reported earlier Reliance Industries chief Mukesh Ambani has bagged Mumbai team for $111.9 million. Vijay Mallya, who heads Kingfisher, has won the bid for the Bangalore team for $111.6 million. Actor Shah Rukh Khan, with Juhi Chawla and Jay Mehta through their company Red Chillies, won the bid for the Kolkata team for $75.09 million.
GMR Holdings paid $84 million to bag Delhi team, India Cements won the Chennai team for $ 91 million, Deccan Chronicle pocketed Hyderabad team for $107.01 million and Emerging Media won the bid for the Jaipur team for $67 million.