PBKS team 2021 prodigy Shahrukh Khan scouted by TN thanks to a beverage; details revealed

Punjab Kings roped in Tamil Nadu-based all-rounder Shahrukh Khan for a whopping price of ₹5.25 crore at the IPL 2021 auction, which made him one of the costliest Indian players to be sold at the event. Notably, the Shahrukh Khan IPL 2021 base price was just ₹20 lakh. But cricketer was purchased by the PBKS team 2021 for more than 25 times his standard price. 

How did PBKS team 2021's latest recruit Shahrukh Khan rise to prominence?

The lucrative Shahrukh Khan IPL 2021 deal doesn't come as a surprise after the kind of form he showed in the latest edition of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021. However, not many people know but one of the major reasons behind Shahrukh Khan's rise to prominence was his performance in the Red Bull Campus Cricket (RBCC) competition. The 25-year old was the competition's 'Man of the Tournament' as he guided Hindustan College from Chennai to the finals in the 2019 edition of the tournament.

For the unversed, Red Bull Campus Cricket was launched in 2012 as an annual international T20 tournament for college cricket teams which provides a platform for young talent to play on a world stage and make their way into professional cricket without having to give up on college education. 

Shahrukh Khan's impressive performances in RBCC 2019 earned him a selection for RBCC player tryouts with Rajasthan Royals at Institute of Sports, Talegaon, Nagpur in the first week of December 2019. The cricketer was enlisted in the IPL 2020 auction. Althought he didn't find any bidders back then, he grabbed eyeballs due to his name.

Shahrukh said in a statement that he wanted to win the 2019 RBCC tournament for his team but unfortunately lost it. He added that he saw his stint in the competition as an opportunity because if he played well there, he would get a chance to be picked in the IPL. Shahrukh Khan also revealed that Rajasthan Royals had called him for a trial after watching him play at Red Bull Campus Cricket and added that it was a very good experience for him.

Remarkably, cricketers like KL Rahul, Shardul Thakur, Mayank Agarwal, Aiden Markram, Lungi Ngidi, Niroshan Dickwella,  Karun Nair, Ruturaj Gaikwad among others have benefitted from the Red Bull Campus Cricket competition.

Dinesh Karthik & Tamil Nadu players celebrate Shahrukh Khan's success at IPL 2021 auction

Taking to the micro-blogging site, Dinesh Karthik had posted a video in which Shahrukh Khan was seen keenly following the auction as the players were travelling in the team bus and once it was revealed that he has had a successful outing at the auctions, all the Tamil Nadu players break into an impromptu dance.

SOURCE: BCCI DOMESTIC