On April 6, the encounter between Shah Rukh Khan and Sourav Ganguly at the Eden Gardens drew attention. It was during the IPL 2026 match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings.
SRK, who arrived with his daughter Suhana Khan, was seen interacting with Ganguly on the field during the rain delay. They hugged like old friends before. Harshit Rana, who is out of the tournament due to injury, was seen along with them.
KKR shared a video of the Dada-King encounter on social media. It read “When the KING met the PRINCE OF BENGAL”. Within hours, the video garnered nearly 1 million views and over 60,000 likes.
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Ganguly currently serves as the president of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB). He was actively involved in checking the departure field and discussing the conditions with the officials.
However, the match was heavily affected by rain and eventually ended. Only 3.4 overs were possible.
Both teams were awarded one point each. Punjab Kings moved to the top of the points table with five points while KKR opened their account this season.
Despite the washout, the SRK-Gangula reunion became the biggest talking point of the evening. Thousands of fans reacted to the viral video.
Many of them took the opportunity to make suggestions for team combinations. Some had outrageous ideas like the sacking of Ajinkya Rahane and Venka Mysore. Others suggested that Sunil Narine should open Finn Allen.
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Many social media users requested the KKR management to rope in Sourav Ganguly as a mentor.
“Bench Green – use Seifert as another opener alongside Fin Allen. Use Rachin in middle order, bowling advantage. Use Sarthak in middle order. Replace Vaibhav with Saurabh Dubey/Navdeep Saini. Replace Ramandeep Tejasvi,” came one detailed suggestion.
History of Ganguly-KKR
The relationship between Sourav Ganguly and Kolkata Knight Riders remains one of the most emotional chapters in IPL history. There were peaks, conflicts and possible separation.
Ganguly was the face of KKR in 2008 as a captain and an icon player. He did well individually, but the team finished 6th.
Tensions rose in 2009 when coach John Buchanan introduced the “multiple captaincy” system. It reduced Ganguly’s leadership role. The move backfired and KKR finished last. Ganguly later blamed the system and lack of freedom.
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In 2010, after Buchanan’s departure, Ganguly returned as captain and scored 493 runs. However, KKR missed out on the playoffs again.
The biggest breakthrough came in the 2011 auction. Under CEO Venka Mysore, KKR decided to rebuild and did not bid for Ganguly.
This shocked fans across Kolkata and sparked protests with slogans like “No Dada, No KKR”. Team owner Shah Rukh Khan later described it as a “divorce” needed for a fresh start.
In 2012, Ganguly returned to Eden Gardens as the captain of Pune Warriors India. The crowd was divided, with many rooting for him over KKR. That year, KKR won their first title under Gautam Gambhir.
