SRK bats for Pakistani players
Commissioner of the Indian Premier League Lalit Kumar Modi, (C) co-owner of 'Kings XI Punjab' Priety Zinta (R) and co-owner of 'Rajasthan Royals' Shilpa Shetty attend a press conference after the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction in Mumbai on January 19, 2010.
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Unlike other team owners, Shah Rukh Khan, the owner of the Kolkata Knight Riders, said the Pakistani players should have been chosen in the IPL auction. Speaking on NDTV's India Questions, SRK said it was humiliating to see none of the players being picked up after their names were put up for the auction.
"I think it's actually humiliating to me as a KKR owner that this has happened. We are known to be good, we are known to invite everyone, and we should have. And if there were any issues, they should have been put out earlier so that everything could happen respectfully," he said. (Photo: NDTV) -
"I truly believe that they should have been chosen. As a matter of fact, I'm not going to be the one who is opposite from what everyone else is saying but I wanted Abdul Razzaq. I think it was in the newspapers much earlier than even the auction started. Dada (Sourav Ganguly) was very keen," he added. (Photo: NDTV)
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And while he said Pakistan players should have been picked, SRK also gave a perspective of a team owner. "There is going to be a section of people who have suddenly gotten up and have said, rightly or wrongly, ' Australians will not be allowed to play'. So here is a set of people who are spending up to 70, 80, 90 crore rupees on trying to win a tournament and suddenly, even if you say this much to me, I'm like 'uh-oh, so should I take or shouldn't I take him?' So tomorrow, if we had known this, maybe even the Australians would not have been picked up. These issues always come prime on your head, the stakes are very high," he said. (Photo: NDTV)
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"I am not giving an excuse and I truly believe Pakistani players are the best T20 players in the world. They are the champions. They are wonderful. But somewhere down the line there is an issue and we cannot deny it. There is an issue, we cannot keep saying 'Oh this was wrong'. Yes maybe the way it was done was wrong, the way it is being carried out may be wrong. But you can't keep on saying 'Koi issue nahi hai yaar, woh aa jate' (There isn't any issue, they could have come). There is an issue lets not deny it. Every day we blame Pakistan, everyday they blame us, it is an issue," he added. (Photo: AFP)
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A few days back just after the IPL auctions where no Pakistani player was bid for, Lalit Modi and Rajasthan Royals co-owner Shilpa Shetty said that they do not owe an answer to anybody. While the issue had taken a political hue in Pakistan, actress Shilpa Shetty said in a press conference that not bidding for the Pakistani players "was not a contrived attempt. We lost out on the best players. We don't owe any explanation anyway." She also requested the people of India and Pakistan to act maturely, saying, "Things have been taken out of proportion." (Photo: AFP)
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Commissioner of the Indian Premier League Lalit Kumar Modi, (C) co-owner of 'Kings XI Punjab' Priety Zinta (R) and co-owner of 'Rajasthan Royals' Shilpa Shetty attend a press conference after the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction in Mumbai on January 19, 2010. (Photo: AFP)
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Commissioner of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Lalit Kumar Modi (C), accompanied by co-owner of 'Rajasthan Royals' Shilpa Shetty (L) with co-owner of "Kings XI Punjab" Priety Zinta, addresses a press conference after the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction in Mumbai on January 19, 2010. (Photo: AFP)
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Commissioner of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Lalit Kumar Modi (L), along with co-owner of 'Kings XI Punjab' Priety Zinta (C) and co-owner of 'Rajasthan Royals' Shilpa Shetty, arrives for a press conference after the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction in Mumbai on January 19, 2010. (Photo: AFP)
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Commissioner of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Lalit Kumar Modi (L), along with co-owner of 'Mumbai Indians' cricket team Neeta Ambani, addresses a press conference after the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction in Mumbai on January 19, 2010. (Photo: AFP)
