New Bengal tigers: It's Mithun vs SRK in cricket

DADA VS BADSHAH: Experts feel the rebel league opted for Mithun to counter SRK's massive propaganda mileage.

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Keywords: ICL, IPL

New Delhi: Shah Rukh Khan has got some serious competition on the cricket field with none other than Mithun Chakraborty.

Days after the gala launch of King Khan's Kolkata Knight Riders team for the multimillon dollar Indian Premier League (IPL), rival Zee-promoted Indian Cricket League (ICL) has roped in Mithun to be the franchisee owner of one of its sides Kolkata Tigers.

Shah Rukh bought his IPL team for $75 million. It is not yet known how much Mithun paid for his team, which has Craig Macmillan as captain, Lance Klusener, Rohan Gavaskar and Upul Chandana among others.

Experts feel the rebel league bosses opted for Mithun, who rose from the ranks in Kolkata to make it big in Mumbai films and still holds a huge fan following in the City of Joy, to counter the massive propaganda mileage the IPL got in the city and across the country after Shah Rukh's Red Chillies Entertainment won the franchisee rights for the Kolkata Knight Riders.

Mithun's presence could also help in boosting the brand image of the Craig Mcmillan-led team, which has attracted little attention from the media or sports aficionados ever since it came into being last year.

Mithun admitted his son of the soil image would win him some additional votes from cricket buffs. But beyond that, he did not wish to go into any comparison with SRK.

To encash on his popularity across the state, Mithun was in favour of changing the name of the side to Royal Bengal Tigers.

"My fans across the state stay up whole night to have a glimpse of me. Why should I confine my team only to Kolkata and deny the rest of the state?" the actor was quoted by PTI.

Mithun said he would try to recruit some new players and support staff for the side. He also said he would lay stress on unearthing talents from the grassroot level in Bengal.

But this battle of the actors on the cricket field will not be easy. According to reports Shah Rukh Khan has apparently approached popular Bengali music composer Bappi Lahiri to compose some more songs for his team.

Bappi would be composing three songs, which would be sung by him, Usha Uthup and a Bengali band called Bhoomi.

So, here’s to one big musical battle. But we will have to wait and watch to know which team is a bigger sport.

(With inputs from PTI)