Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) co-owner Shah Rukh Khan conveyed an encouraging message to his dejected team through CEO Venky Mysore following a heartbreaking loss to Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in their IPL 2025 clash on Tuesday. In a video shared by the franchise on social media, the Bollywood icon urged Rinku Singh to keep the team’s morale high in his absence.
KKR appeared poised to chase down a massive 239-run target set by LSG at Eden Gardens, coming close to pulling off one of the highest successful run-chases in IPL history. However, they lost momentum in the final overs and narrowly missed the mark, falling short by just four runs.
"Hold our head up, and face the next game" – SRK 💜💬 pic.twitter.com/5BJFDNNiBc
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) April 9, 2025
As Ajinkya Rahane and his teammates appeared disheartened following the loss, CEO Venky Mysore read out a message from Shah Rukh Khan on his phone. The KKR co-owner praised the team’s performance, noting that the defending champions were just one shot away from clinching the victory.
“So I’ve got a message to read out. This is from the boss man. He says it’s a sad loss because we were so close. But so many good things to take away from the match. For one thing, we can fight and put up a big score. Big shoutout to all the batters who gave their best.”
“Sometimes our best is not good enough. I think this was one of those days. All I can say is just leave the defeat behind and just take the lesson that we were only one ball, one hit away. We should not give up till the end,” Mysore said.
In his message, the 59-year-old expressed that the players should still be proud of their performance and hoped the outcome would strengthen their bond as a team.
“So let’s move on and take this experience and know. This was in our hand. This was ours to lose or win. Today, we may have faltered but we just need to hold our head up now and face up to the next match. Very good going. All the best for the next one.”
“Not talking about the Cricket part and performance because a loss like this is to be absorbed and learnt from introspection for the team. So, go on and have an easy night and get over this one. Seeing it maturely, I feel a bit of heartbreak brings the team closer. Bless you all and thank you for a good game of cricket, KKR. Rinku, make everyone cheer up in my absence. Love you all,” he added.
“The approach and the way everyone performed were incredible”- Rahane
KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane, who scored 61, indicated that he wasn’t overly concerned about the loss given the narrow margin. He also expressed admiration for the quality of the batting-friendly pitch. Speaking at the post-match presentation, Rahane said:
“A really tight one. As I said at the toss, the wicket would remain very good. No complaints, in the end we fought hard but just four runs short. See when you’re chasing 230-plus you are bound to lose wickets, that’s completely normal. The intent and how everyone played was amazing. If batters took a little bit of time, it was a great wicket to bat on.”
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