Apr 27, 2025 12:56 PM IST
During his KKR tenure, Wasim Akram came across a wonderful moment that showed the love, care and admiration KKR co-owner Shah Rukh Khan has for his players.
After overcoming his struggle with drug addiction, Pakistan legend Wasim Akram landed a job in the Indian Premier League (IPL) as the bowling coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders, where he spent six seasons, between 2010 and 2016. During his tenure, he came across a wonderful moment that showed the love, care and admiration KKR co-owner Shah Rukh Khan had, and still has, for his players.
In an interview with VU Sports, as quoted by the Indian Express, Akram recalled an incident from the 2012 IPL season, where he had made a request to Shah Rukh regarding how the players would get tired as they would be reaching the venue on the eve of the game. Akram was concerned that the exhaustion might have an impact on the result. But the Bollywood superstar assured him not to worry and then arranged a Boeing within an hour for the entire team.
Akram said: “I think this happened during the 2012 IPL season. Our knockout match was in Kolkata, and I remember we were going to arrive via, via some place. Shah Rukh Khan was there, so I asked him, ‘Khan saab, ek request hai (Mr Khan, I have a request)’. I said, ‘Ladke bade thak jayenge, hum kal pahunchenge, parso match hai. Toh agar ek private plane (The team will get extremely tired. We’ll reach tomorrow, and the match is the day after. If a private plane could be arranged)…’ He said, ‘Thak jayenge ladke? Koi problem nahi (They’ll get tired you say, no problem)’. Within one hour, pura Boeing jahaaz khada tha for the whole team.”
Later in his autobiography, Akram revealed how important the KKR job was for him after spending his days in a drug rehabilitation centre in Lahore under “brutal” conditions. He wrote: “Movies conjure up an image of rehab as a caring, nurturing environment. This facility in Lahore was brutal: a bare building with five cells, a meeting room and a kitchen.” He added, “Once out, I tried to keep calm, to get centred. Shah Rukh Khan offered me an attractive job as the bowling coach at Kolkata Knight Riders – my first senior coaching role anywhere.”
