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World Cup winning cricketers the real heroes: Shah Rukh Khan
26th Sept 2007 09.01 IST
By Agencies

Euphoric over India lifting the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup, Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan described cricketers Mahendra Singh Dhoni and, before him, Kapil Dev, who brought glory to the nation by scooping the 1983 World Cup, as the real heroes of the country.

“I am just a ‘Badshah’ (king) without a crown, but Kapil paaji and Dhoni are the ‘Badshahs’ with the Taj (crown). These sportsmen are the real heroes of India. I am just an actor who tries to take inspiration from them in films like Chak De India ”, SRK, who was yelling encouragements in the stands at the Wanderers along with his son Aryan during the grand finale, told a news channel after India’s electrifying win.

Refusing to see this win as an offshoot of the enthusiasm for sports created by his latest venture ‘Chak De India’, which featured the King Khan as the coach of the Indian women’s hockey team whose training helps the team win the World Cup, SRK said, “In fact, it is the other way round. It is from people like Kapil Dev and Dhoni that we draw inspirations for films like ‘Chak De India’ and not the other way round.”

Expressing elation over the seesaw battle, which eventually saw India romping home, its first after a gap of 24 years since the cricket World Cup in 1983, SRK said he had a strong belief that the Indian team would emerge triumphant in the Twenty20 World Cup.

“My son and I strongly believed all through the final between India and Pakistan that India would win. At no point of time did we feel that India would lose. Fortunately for us, our young cricketing heroes proved us right.”

SRK said it was his strong belief in the capability of the Indian youngsters that led him to suddenly decide early Sunday to go to South Africa to lend support to Team India.

“I was very small when the Indian team won the cricket World Cup in 1983. But now I wanted my son to watch closely our young cricketing heroes battling it out in the cricket field. Fortunately for us we were not disappointed.”

Expressing his gratitude to the people like BCCI president Sharad Pawar, Industrialist Vijay Mallaya and Congressman Rajiv Shukla for arranging his visit to South Africa at such a short notice, SRK said, “I am extremely happy that I was present at such a historic moment in India’s cricketing history.”

“I am also happy that this win by the Indian cricket team as well as the brilliant show by the Pakistani cricket team has given the much-needed fillip to sport in the subcontinent and brought cricket back to the centrestage after the unfortunate loss at the 2007 cricket World Cup,” SRK said.

Refusing to liken the World Cup win in 1983 to the Twenty20 World Cup victory, SRK said, “I would not like to make any comparison. A win is a win is a win. In that sense, the present win is as cherished as the 1983 win.”

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