IPL 2021: Shah Rukh Khan lauds KKR after their valiant efforts against CSK

When the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) were reduced to 31 for five in 5.2 overs while chasing 221, a loss seemed on the cards against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). But at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, the Men in Gold and Purple didn’t throw in the towel and almost made one of the greatest comebacks in the history of the T20 league since its inception back in 2008.

Andre Russell’s 22-ball 54 laid the platform for the resurgence. After he got out, former captain Dinesh Karthik carried on the good work, scoring 40 runs off 24 balls. In the end, it was all up to Pat Cummins to deliver the telling blows. He stayed unbeaten on 66 off 34 balls, but the Knights, in the end, fell short and lost the match by a margin of 18 runs.

The trio smashed 11 fours and as many as 14 sixes to keep KKR in the hunt until the very last over. In the meantime, Shah Rukh Khan, the co-owner of the Knights, was delighted with KKR’s performance, though his team lost. He didn’t forget to laud Cummins, Karthik and Russell.

Khan’s words of praises for KKR

He took to Twitter and wrote, “Coulda…woulda…shoulda can take a backseat tonight…@KKRiders was quite awesome I feel. (oops if we can forget the batting power play!!) well done boys… @Russell12A @patcummins30 @DineshKarthik try and make this a habit…we will be back!!“

Coulda…woulda…shoulda can take a backseat tonight…@KKRiders was quite awesome I feel. ( oops if we can forget the batting power play!!) well done boys…@Russell12A @patcummins30 @DineshKarthik try and make this a habit…we will be back!! pic.twitter.com/B1wGBe14n3

— Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) April 21, 2021

Skipper Eoin Morgan, who got out to Deepak Chahar, appreciated his team as well for the fightback. He also accepted that he didn’t expect the Knights to get close to the target after the horrendous show in the powerplay.

“What a hell of a game of cricket. Certainly, from the position we were in after our powerplay, we probably didn’t think we’d get as close as we did. But Andre Russell, Dinesh Karthik really did put a partnership together, once you do that taking advantage of the conditions here, it’s very difficult to stop,“ Morgan said.

“A partnership going in that manner and then following that Pat Cummins the way he played really gave us every chance towards the end. Tremendous fight from our middle and lower order which is all you can ask for when you lose wickets upfront like that,“ he added.