Shah Rukh Khan buys stake in Caribbean Premier League team Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel

Bollywood superstar and co-owner of IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders, Shah Rukh Khan bought stakes in the Caribbean Premier League team Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel, joining by Hollywood stars Mark Wahlberg and Gerard Butler.

Mark Wahlberg owns Barbados Tridents and Gerard Butler has invested in Jamaica Tallawahs, led by Chris Gayle.

Shah Rukh Khan, whose team Kolkata Knight Riders is a two-time IPL champion, has invested in Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel with Juhi Chawla and Jay Mehta, who both are co-owners of KKR too.

The CPLT20 tournament till now has completed two successful seasons with Jamaica Tallawahs being the first champions followed by Barbados Tridents last year. Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel managed to reach the knock-out stages but failed to deliver the knock-out punch to reach the finals on both occasions.

The 3rd edition of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) will begin on June 20th and will end on July 26th. The tournament has 6 teams participating in it and they are -Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel, St Lucia Zouks, St Kitts and Nevis Patriots, Jamaica Tallawahs, Guyana Amazon Warriors and defending champions Barbados Tridents.

The tournament’s final will be played at Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel’s home ground and all rounder Dwayne Bravo will lead the side which would feature Jacques Kallis, the current team mentor of Kolkata Knight Riders.

Shah Rukh Khan told Times of India that is line with his vision globally. He said, “This is in line with our vision globally. We are thrilled to become part of the cricketing tradition of Trinidad & Tobago. The passion for franchise cricket in the Caribbean is evident with the success of CPL and we hope to bring all the best practices of KKR to the T&T franchise.”

Venky Mysore, chief executive of KKR said, “KKR has been fortunate to be recognized as one of the most professionally managed franchises in IPL. That experience has encouraged us to expand globally .The idea is to replicate our success in the CPL, keeping the growing interest in this (T20) format in mind.”

More to follow…