During the 2021 IPL Player auction, an exciting moment came about when Punjab Kings owner Preity Zinta bagged Tamil Nadu batsman Shahrukh Khan. After buying the player for her team, Zinta chirped “We got Shahrukh!”, looking at rival Kolkata Knight Riders table which is co-owned by Indian actor Shahrukh Khan.
Veer Zaara, Kal Ho Naa Ho, Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna, the on-screen duo of Preity Zinta and Shahrukh Khan were rivals at the IPL 2021 auction as both the actors are franchise owners of Punjab Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders.
However, in the mini-auction held on Thursday, Naina finally got her Aman as Priety Zinta purchased Tamil Nadu batsman Shahrukh Khan for a whopping 5.25 crores.
Punjab Kings went into the IPL auction with one of the biggest purses among the 8 franchises. The team had 53.20 crore to spare and shell out on both overseas and national players. The team management roped a total of 9 players one after the other and strengthened their squad ahead of the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League. While a major chunk of their money was spent on the Australian pacers Jhye Richardson and Riley Meredith, one of the highlights of the evening came when Preity Zinta went for her on-screen actor’s namesake.
The uncapped Tamil Nadu explosive batsman was uncapped but drew quite an interest from Delhi Capitals initially. Later, Royal Challengers Bangalore also joined the party and the bid for Shahrukh increased steadily. After Delhi backed out from the bidding war, Preity Zinta’s Punjab Kings joined the race and got the ball rolling again. Finally, Royal Challengers backed off as Zinta was keen to get Khan’s service and ended up paying Rs. 5.25 crore for the uncapped player.
After Khan was inducted in Punjab Kings, franchise co-owner Preity Zinta teased actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son who was representing Kolkata Knight Riders in the player auction. Preity Zinta seemed elated with her purchase and teased Aryan by saying “We got Shahrukh!”
Preity’s excitement was captured and was soon covered by all media outlets. IPL’s official Twitter handle also posted the video of the moment. Check it out!
When you get a certain "Shahrukh Khan" in your side 😉😉 @PunjabKingsIPL @Vivo_India #IPLAuction pic.twitter.com/z4te9w2EIZ
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) February 18, 2021
Reaction of Aryan Khan when Shahrukh Khan was auctioned 😄 pic.twitter.com/XoH2YZhnJE
— Nafiu Kabir (@Nafiu_Shakibian) February 18, 2021
Later in the evening, Preity also spoke to the rival team’s co-owner Shah Rukh over a video call. The picture of the two stars talking on video call was shared by Preity’s team on Twitter.
Guess who @realpreityzinta is talking to?🤔
HINT: He's a 'King' too 🎞️😉#SaddaPunjab #IPLAuction2021 #PunjabKings pic.twitter.com/7MNbdZxgBa
— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) February 18, 2021
The Twitterati also shared some hilarious memes after Zinta bagged Shahrukh Khan.
Shahrukh Khan goes to Punjab kings for 5.25 crores #IPLAuction2021 pic.twitter.com/jmHvhMYIHp
— 𝑪𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒄 🇮🇳 (@meme_casticc) February 18, 2021
#KKR did not bid for #ShahRukhKhan
💔#IPL2021Auction pic.twitter.com/aArE2o2S8X
— Ritayan Basu | ঋতায়ন বসু (@ritayanbasu) February 18, 2021
Meanwhile #PreityZinta tells #AryanKhan – "We got Shah Rukh!" pic.twitter.com/HXqOC6mjMn
— Ritayan Basu | ঋতায়ন বসু (@ritayanbasu) February 18, 2021
Aryan Khan is the eldest son of Shah Rukh Khan. He is also a KKR follower and has attended almost all KKR matches right from the first edition of the IPL. In the last season of IPL which was held in UAE, Shahrukh along with Aryan supported the matches of their team from the bio-bubble.
King Khan is in the house, cheering for his lads.@iamsrk | #Dream11IPL #RRvKKR pic.twitter.com/1ZGZdrMOlt
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) September 30, 2020
Shahrukh Khan, who was previously seen at almost all the IPL player auctions previously was not seen this year. However, young Aryan filled his placed and graced the auction. As soon as the netizens caught the glimpse of young Khan, they took to Twitter to highlight how Aryan resembles his father. Check out the reactions:
It looks very much like our king
Really his father's son @iamsrk #Aryankhan #IPLAuction2021 pic.twitter.com/5PnC9V8bQp— Tina (@7qDdC2BUMxA947U) February 18, 2021
this cub is from that lion #Aryankhan @iamsrk #IPLAuction2021 pic.twitter.com/ZFFpeswueF
— ❤️nihal😍srk❤️ (@1K7Vm3kK7xQjW2w) February 18, 2021
Carbon Copy of @iamsrk
I mean just look at him, he is behaving exactlyy like Shah❤️
And that hand on his mouth, so much like his papa!😳❤️#ShahRukhKhan #AryanKhan pic.twitter.com/uGBCROqOvX— SRKanchan💘 (@kanchanSRK) February 18, 2021