KOLAKTA : It’s always a treat to watch a collaboration between members of Indian cinema and sports players. Today, the audience in Kolkata got lucky as they witnessed a star-studded crossover of Bollywood and cricket at the opening ceremony of the 18th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), courtesy of Shah Rukh Khan.
With his amazing hosting skills, SRK added “chaar chand” to the ceremony. The highlight of the event was undoubtedly the moment when SRK called former RCB captain ‘GOAT’ and shook a leg with him on his blockbuster song ‘Jhoome Jo Pathaan’.
The entire Eden Gardens erupted into loud ‘Kohli Kohli’ chants. Like the audience, SRK could not resist himself and chanted ‘Kohli Kohli’.
King Khan 🤝 King Kohli
When two kings meet, the stage is bound to be set on fire 😍#TATAIPL 2025 opening ceremony graced with Bollywood and Cricket Royalty 🔥#KKRvRCB | @iamsrk | @imVkohli pic.twitter.com/9rQqWhlrmM
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) March 22, 2025
“Virat bhai is the only player who has been associated with just one team in the entirety of the IPL. He is the OG. The GOAT of IPL,” said Shah Rukh before asking Kohli to come on the stage.
“The king of 22 yards and a billion hearts. Let’s hear the loudest for the one and only the GOAT, Mr. Virat Kohli,” he added.
The audience left excited on seeing ‘King Kohli’ as he unleashed his dancing avatar with ‘King Khan’ at the jam-packed Eden Gardens.
In no time, fans flooded social media by uploading videos of SRK and Kohli’s ‘Jhoome Jo Pathaan’ dance.
Before Kohli, SRK danced with Rinku Singh, who is a part of the KKR squad. Rinku shook a leg with SRK on his famous ‘Lutt Putt Gaya’ track from the latter’s film ‘Dunki’.
Rinku’s dance left Kohli in splits. Have a look at this funny yet memorable moment
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SRK’s charisma was on full display during the opening ceremony. He sent the crowd into a frenzy by saying, “Party Pathan ke ghar pe rakhoge toh mehman nawazi ke liye Pathan khud aayega aur patake bhi layega.”
Shreya Ghoshal, Karan Aujla and Disha Patani, too, added Bollywood touch to the IPL performance with their performances.
After the star-studded opening ceremony, players of KKR and RCB entered the stadium started the opening match of the IPL tournament.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Playing XI): Virat Kohli, Philip Salt(w), Rajat Patidar(c), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma, Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Rasikh Dar Salam, Suyash Sharma, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru Impact Subs: Devdutt Padikkal, Abhinandan Singh, Manoj Bhandage, Romario Shepherd, Swapnil SinghKolkata Knight
Riders (Playing XI): Quinton de Kock(w), Venkatesh Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Spencer Johnson, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy.Kolkata Knight Riders Impact Subs: Anrich Nortje, Manish Pandey, Vaibhav Arora, Anukul Roy, Luvnith Sisodia. (ANI)
