The sleepless Knights!

With team co-owner Shah Rukh Khan leading the way, Kolkata Knight Riders’ players and support staff partied up to the early hours on Monday after their thrilling win in the Indian Premier League final.

“Shah Rukh did not sleep. Nor did he let us sleep,” said team member Laxmi Ratan Shukla. The Knights’ celebrations started on the Chepauk ground itself, soon after Manoj Tiwary hit Dwayne Bravo to the square leg fence to fashion a five-wicket triumph over Chennai Super Kings.

Shah Rukh rushed to the ground, did some cart-wheeling, hugged all members of the side and danced to the tune of “Chhammak chhallo”.  His wife Gauri Khan was by his side, taking part in the celebrations. He spent 90 minutes on the field, and then stepped into the team dressing room, where the next round of partying started.

“I did not sleep the whole night. Of course, I did not want to sleep also,” said Shukla. “We had a wild party in the dressing room and then at the hotel. Everybody seemed to have gone mad. Shirts were torn, players poured jugs of water on one another, champagne flowed freely like water.”

Tiwary, who hit the winning runs, said Shah Rukh stood by the side even when it was going through tough times in the past.  “He would always tell us ‘badi badi duniya mein chhoti chhoti galti hoti rahti hai’ (small mistakes do happen in this big world) to pep us up after every poor performance”.

The players are now bracing up for more celebrations in Kolkata. “We know people are all in a frenzy. I want time to move slowly so that I can soak in every bit of the celebrations,” said Shukla.

After landing in Kolkata, the players would be felicitated by chief minister Mamata Banerjee at the Eden Gardens on Tuesday at the end of a big victory parade from Hazra in South Kolkata. The players will be feted on the route of the parade at Jadu Babu’s Bazaar, before they go with the trophy to the state secretariat Writers’ Buildings to meet Banerjee.

During the final lap of the celebrations at Eden, a big cake with KKR’s slogan “Korbo, Lorbo, Jitbo re” (We will do it, we will fight it out, we will win it) written on it will be cut, while Bengali bands Bhoomi, Chandrabindu and Dohar will perform.