SRK on KKR's IPL 2024 win: 'Proof of each player being the best for the team'

Bollywood actor and co-owner of IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) Shah Rukh Khan on Wednesday (May 29) congratulated the "stars" of his team for winning the IPL 2024 title on Sunday (May 26) in Chennai.

KKR cruised to an eight-wicket victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in a lopsided final at the M A Chidambaram Stadium.

Shah Rukh, the principal owner of the team, also thanked fans who waited 10 long years for the win.

"Love you all and don’t let the dancing stop! Also, so happy and thankful for each and every KKR fan and I hope all around the world youngsters learn that tough times don’t last..." he wrote in a lengthy post on his social media handles.

The 58-year-old actor gave a shout-out to KKR mentor Gautam Gambhir, assistant coach Abhishek Nayar and head coach Chandrakant Pandit. He also mentioned KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer and support staff Ryan ten Doeschate, Bharat Arun, Carl Crowe, and Nathan Leamon in the post.

"To my boys... my team... my champs... 'these blessed candles of the night'... My Stars...of KKR. I cannot do a lot of things and you cannot do them all either...but together we manage most of them. That’s what @KKRiders stood for.

"Simply being together. Beyond the ability and guidance of @GautamGambhir….the earnestness of Chandu, the love of @abhisheknayar1 & leadership of @ShreyasIyer15... the dedication of @rtendo27, Bharat Arun, @1crowey & @Numb3z." KKR is a team that's not built on hierarchy but "pure respect for collaboration", he said.

"GG (Gambhir) said if u can’t support a single vision as a team... u are leading to a division in the team. Each player understood that. Young and old. The Trophy is not a testament of having the best players in the team... but a proof of each player being the best for the team. Boys you are all made of Star stuff!! Finally Tough and Happy teams do! Korbo…Lorbo…Jeetbo….Always. See u all at the stadia in 2025," Shah Rukh wrote.

Shah Rukh, who was hospitalised last week in Ahmedabad after suffering from a heat stroke after attending an IPL match of his team at the Narendra Modi Stadium, was ecstatic after KKR won IPL 2024.

During Sunday's finale at Chennai's Chepauk Stadium, the actor appeared in a mask almost throughout the match, but took it off as the team was one run away from clinching the coveted title.

He was accompanied at the final by his wife Gauri Khan and children Aryan, Suhana, and AbRam.

KKR, co-owned by couple Juhi Chawla and Jay Mehta, won its first IPL final in 2012 and then in 2014.