Shahrukh asks people to stop comparing him with Ganguly

May 16, 2012

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Kolkata, May 16: A visibly annoyed Shah Rukh Khan today sought to put an end to his comparison with KKR's former captain Sourav Ganguly and asked the fans to "grow up" and stop correlating the two.

"Grow up please. This is sport. Let's play it like a sport. We keep on talking about Kings and Khans... This is crap to be honest. I say this with love and respect to all of you," SRK said on the sidelines of the Kolkata Knight Riders post-match party.

The Bollywood superstar, who raged a debate after he dumped the left-hander following a forgettable three-season stint, said it's high time people get over it and leave the former India skipper alone.

"To be honest, if we don't outgrow this, it is embarrassing not only to us, not only to me, its embarrassing for Dada also...

"We should get over this. Every time I come to Kolkata, if you are going to bring this up for a few headlines and some spicy titbits I think it's a little unfair." he said.

"It's not only unfair to me. It is unfair to the great legend that Sourav Ganguly is... Let him play his cricket, lead his life in whichever team he plays for, whether it's an Indian team, an IPL team or a domestic team.

"We should all be cheering for the greatness that he has achieved instead of making him small with these comparisons and belittling the importance of what Sourav Ganguly has achieved in Indian sports history," the actor said.

Asked whether he might think of bringing in Ganguly as a mentor for his side, Shahrukh, in a tongue-in-cheek manner, said, "I'm the mentor of this team. The owner of this team. The hero of this team. I'm the God of this team."

"Generally what I'm saying is we have a lot of love for all the cricketing greats. We have had some wonderful memories with him. We wish him all the best. We wish him whenever he plays. He is one of the great legends the country will ever see in any sport.

"Personally, I'm the greatest fan of Dada as far as cricket is concerned. We worked together (for a commercial) many years ago. We had a lot of great moments together with his family," he reiterated.

Ganguly, who headed Pune Warriors against KKR earlier this month at the Eden Garden, stirred Bengali's emotions to the hilt as loyalties were divided among the masses. The match was seen as a Dada versus Khan battle.

The Knight Riders play Mumbai Indians tomorrow at the Wankhede stadium, before heading to Pune for a return leg match on May 19. Having suffered two defeats in succession, the Knight Riders need to notch one win from their remaining two matches to advance to the next stage.


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News Network
March 2,2020

Christchurch, Mar 2: India captain Virat Kohli on Monday said the under-fire Rishabh Pant has got a "lot of chances" but the team is not looking to try someone else in the youngster's place just yet as one player can't be singled out in a collective failure.

Pant has been under the scanner for the past one year because of his inconsistent run. His tally of 60 runs across four innings in the 0-2 Test series loss to New Zealand, which concluded here on Monday, has only amplified the debate whether it was prudent to leave out a keeper of Wriddhiman Saha's calibre and back Pant.

"...we have given him (Pant) a lot of chances in the home season as well starting from Australia. Then he was not playing for a bit. In turn he really worked hard on himself," Kohli came to Pant's defence after the series here.

"You need to figure out when is the right time to give someone else a chance. If you push people too early, they can lose confidence," he added.

"...collectively, we didn't perform. I don't believe in singling him out. We take the hit together as a group whether it's the batting group or as a team."

When asked if he believes Pant has taken his place in the side for granted, Kohli made it clear that the culture of this team doesn't encourage anyone to think along those lines.

"I don't see anyone taking his place for granted in this team. That's the culture we have set. People are told to take responsibilities and work hard. Whether it happens or not is a different thing. Then you can have a conversation with the players," he said.

"But no one has come here thinking I am going to play every game or I am indispensable," he added in no uncertain terms.

Kohli, just like head coach Ravi Shastri, made it clear that Pant can make a difference in overseas conditions and he won't like to deviate during future tours.

"The time that he didn't play, he really worked hard on his game. So we thought this is the right time because of his game and the way he plays because he can make a difference lower down the order.

"That was our planning behind it. We can't really fluctuate when it comes to what we planned," he added.

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News Network
February 5,2020

New Delhi, Feb 5: IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) has denied any financial dealings with the controversial Rose Valley Group except for it being a sponsor of the side's official jerseys in 2012 and 2013.

KKR issued the clarification after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) attached Rose Valley's assets worth over Rs 70 crore on Monday. The attached assets include Rs 11.87 crore bank deposits of Knight Riders Sports Pvt Ltd, that owns KKR, in connection with a money laundering probe.

The franchise said it hopes for the matter to be resolved expeditiously.

"Rose Valley Hotels was one of KKR's IPL jersey sponsors for IPL seasons 2012 and 2013. Rose Valley had paid KKR an approx. amount of Rs 11.87 crore as sponsorship fees," KKR CEO Venky Mysore said in a statement.

"KKR had no other dealings with the Rose Valley Group including Rose Valley’s micro finance business," he added.

The statement added that in July last year, KRSPL (Knight Riders Sports Pvt Ltd), received a "witness summon" from the ED in connection with an investigation relating to the Rose Valley Group, particularly its micro finance business.

"The ED continues the investigation of Rose Valley. KKR continues to cooperate with the authorities in all respects," Mysore said.

"As part of the investigative process, sometime in October 2019, the ED placed a lien on the said amount earlier paid by Rose Valley to KKR," he asserted.

The directors of KRSPL include Shah Rukh Khan's wife Gauri Khan, actor Juhi Chawla's husband Jay Mehta, Mysore and two others.

Mysore was questioned in this case by ED's Kolkata office in October last year.

Apart from KRSPL, the ED attached properties of two other entities -- Multiple Resorts Pvt. Ltd. and Kolkata's St Xavier's College on Monday.

The ED registered an FIR against the Rose Valley group, its chairman Gautam Kundu and others under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in 2014.

Kundu was arrested by the agency in Kolkata in 2015 and is in judicial custody at present.

The ED has filed multiple charge sheets in Kolkata and Bhubaneswar courts in this connection and total attachments are now worth Rs 4,750 crore.

The group has been charged by the ED and the CBI with "illegally and fraudulently collecting deposits from public with the intention to cheat them by falsely promising high returns on their investment", thereby perpetrating a ponzi-like fraud.

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News Network
January 8,2020

Indore, Jan 8:  India skipper Virat Kohli has added yet another feather to his cap by becoming the fastest player to score 1,000 runs in T20I cricket as a captain. Kohli played an unbeaten knock of 30 during India''s seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the second T20I of the ongoing three-match series on Tuesday evening.

Kohli achieved the milestone of scoring 1,000 runs as captain in his 30th T20I inning. He is the second Indian and sixth overall after MS Dhoni to have achieved the feat. Dhoni had scored 1112 runs in 62 T20I games as captain.

Faf du Plessis (1273 runs from 40 games), Kane Williamson (1083 runs in 39 games), Eoin Morgan (1013 runs in 43 games) and Ireland''s William Porterfield (1002 runs in 56 games) are other captains on the list.

During India''s emphatic victory at the Holkar Stadium, Kohli also surpassed team-mate Rohit Sharma, who has been rested for the series, as the top run-getter in the T20Is. Kohli now has 2663 runs from 71 innings.

Both had finished 2019 as joint top-scorers in T20Is, with 2633 runs each.

India, already with an unassailable lead of 1-0 in the series, will now face Sri Lanka in the final T20I on Friday in Pune. The first match between the two teams was called off without a ball being bowled due to wet patches on the pitch in Guwahati last Sunday.

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