Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan is expected to attend the Trinbago Knight Riders home matches in the 2018 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) this week.
TKR will play the opening game of the CPL tonight against St Lucia Stars at the Queen's Park Oval in St Clair. On Friday they face Jamaica Tallawahs and on Saturday meet St Kitts and Nevis Patriots. All the matches this week will be played at the Queen's Park Oval from 8 pm.
In 2015, Khan bought a stake in the TT Red Steel through his company Red Chillies Entertainment, along with Mehta Group's businessman Jay Mehta and his wife Juhi Chawla. The trio also owns the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), a T20 franchise that plays in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
For the 2016 CPL, the TT Red Steel was renamed to the Trinbago Knight Riders. Khan would be hoping his presence brings a bit of luck to the local Knight Riders franchise. TKR have won CPL titles in 2015 and 2017, adding to the IPL titles won by KKR in 2012 and 2014.
Yesterday at a press conference at the Hyatt Regency, ahead of the opening match between TKR and the St Lucia Stars tonight, TKR captain Dwayne Bravo said he was glad Khan will be in TT.
Bravo said, "No added pressure (that Khan is coming). We are happy to know that Shah Rukh is finally coming to Trinidad to be part of these home games. I am excited."
Since Khan bought stake in the TT franchise, he has not been able to attend CPL matches due to a busy schedule. Khan is an Indian film actor, producer, and television personality. He is often called the King of Bollywood or King Khan as he has starred in more than 80 Bollywood films and won multiple awards including 14 Filmfare awards.
Although Khan has not been able to attend matches in the past, he often uses social media to wish TKR success. In a video on Twitter on Monday, Khan encouraged all the TKR fans to come out in their numbers. He said, "A big shout out to all the Trinbagonians. Come and join the biggest party in sport at the Queen's Park Oval from the eighth of August. Tickets are available on www.bookmyshow.com and also at the Queen's Park box office. So cheer for TKR as they play, fight, win, repeat."