Two Indian Premier League titles, two Champions League T20 title, six Indian Premier League final appearances as the skipper of the team- who would not love to have Mahendra Singh Dhoni in his or her team. The most decorated captain in the history of Indian cricket, the World Cup-winning skipper is also one of the most successful captains in the history of India’s premier T20 league and so it is not at all surprising to hear Kolkata Knight Riders owner Shah Rukh Khan’s desperation to sign Dhoni for his team despite Gautam Gambhir doing a phenomenal work for the Kolkata-based outfit.
After enduing a tough time in the opening three seasons, where they could not make it to the top four even once, Kolkata Knight Rider signed Gautam Gambhir in 2011 and there fortunes took a remarkable turnaround. Under Gambhir, they won the title twice in addition to making it to the playoff stage in six seasons but Shah Rukh Khan is still eager to sign Dhoni. In fact, the Bollywood superstar is so desperate to sign the former India skipper that he is even ready to sell his pants to secure the services of the player.
“Yaar main toh usko apna Pajama bech ke bhi kharid lun, wo Aaye toh auction mein,” (I am willing to buy Dhoni even if it means selling off my pants, but he never goes under the hammer in IPL auctions), the actor said, as quoted by Sportswallah.
He further expressed his disappointment over not being able to attend majority of the matches of his team last season but hoped to attend more this year.
“I want to attend the majority of them but unfortunately due to the work schedule I missed many of them last year, However, this year InshaAllah the movie with Imtiaz (Ali) would be in post-production by the time IPL starts, so I might attend more games,” he said.
Meanwhile, Dhoni has roared back to form in the Indian Premier League with a match-winning knock against Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 22. After being severely criticised for scoring just 61 runs in first five matches of the league, the 35-year old blasted 61 runs off only 34 balls against the defending champions to take his team home.