Tamil Nadu cricketer Shah Rukh Khan has spent most of his career carrying a name that is instantly recognizable across India, but despite the obvious association with Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan, the Tamil Nadu cricketer has a different celebrity at the top of his bucket list. Shah Rukh, who recently led Kovai Kings to their third Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) title, said he is yet to meet the Bollywood star named after him. If he could choose, the Tamil Nadu player would rather meet Salman Khan than his famous name.
“I really hope to meet Salman Khan more than Shah Rukh Khan,” the cricketer said in an exclusive chat with IANS.
The 29-year-old had many opportunities to meet his famous name during his IPL career, especially in matches against Kolkata Knight Riders. However, these opportunities never came to fruition due to Shah Rukh Khan’s absence from the matches.
“I haven’t met him yet. I haven’t met Shah Rukh Khan yet. But yes, I hope to meet him soon. We’ve played a fair number of matches against KKR. But I actually missed the opportunity to meet Shah Rukh Khan. He obviously didn’t come for the match. If he would have come, obviously I would have met him. But you know, I really hope to meet Salman Khan more than Shah Rukh Khan.”
A meeting with Shah Rukh Khan might be particularly interesting for the cricketer. Since he was born after a Bollywood star, Shah Rukh Khan is aware that he has been named after the actor and is eager to see the star’s reaction when they finally meet.
“No, I will wait for his reaction first. Because I was born after him. So, I am named after him. So, I hope I heard that he has a weird sense of humour. Obviously I am a good friend of Varun Chakravarthy. He is a really wonderful person at heart. I am waiting to see what kind of weird sense of humor he has. And yes, really excited to meet him.”
While his name has often been a point of discussion, Shah Rukh has carved out his own identity in Tamil Nadu cricket over the past several years.
He has been a part of the state’s cricket circuit for about two decades and has emerged as one of the leading white-ball players in Tamil Nadu. His journey took him to the Indian Premier League, where he played for several franchises, and most recently for the Gujarat Titans.
His most recent accomplishment was in the TNPL, where he led the Kovai Kings to their third championship. The team beat Madurai Panthers by 84 runs in the final, making them only the second team in the history of the tournament to claim three titles.
Shah Rukh sees the importance of TNPL as extending beyond his personal achievements. He considers the tournament a crucial stepping stone for young cricketers in Tamil Nadu, having already facilitated the progression of several players to the IPL and other higher levels of domestic cricket.
“Yes, TNPL has been a platform for many players from Tamil Nadu including myself, Natarajan, Varun Chakravarthy, and a lot of players and the way the tournament has evolved over the years is tremendous. Not just TNPL but other leagues being held across India as well. But the first domestic T20 state tournament was TNPL and it was my good fortune to be a part of that tournament,” he said.
“And every year, you see new talent coming in. I hope even this year the IPL scouts will see some talent and selections so that the tournament will grow bigger next year,” he added.
Shahrukh’s TNPL campaign was particularly significant after a difficult IPL 2026 season with Gujarat Titans.
The batsman struggled to make the desired impact in the Indian Premier League and was dropped from the playing XI midway through the tournament. Shahrukh also revealed that he used the break to address a technical issue in his batting and returned to the TNPL with more confidence.
“I had a technical flaw in my batting. I had a technical flaw that hampered my batting a lot for the last 7-8 months. I really came back from the IPL and worked on that. My front foot was going away a lot and I wasn’t used to doing that before. Yes, I had a decent couple of months in between where I could focus on my technique and tighten up as much as possible on that,” he said.
–IANS
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(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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