Produced by: Hitansh Gaur
On Wednesday, ICC shared a picture of Shah Rukh Khan looking at the ICC Men’s World Cup trophy. It went viral in no time as the post was captioned, “It’s nearly here.”
On Thursday, ICC shared the promo video of the ICC Men’s World Cup 2023 which featured ‘King Khan’ SRK. The video broke the internet as fans of cricket and Shah Rukh expressed their excitement and joy.
Shah Rukh Khan is a big fan of cricket and even owns the Kolkata Knight Riders IPL team. Even in 2011, the last time India hosted and eventually won the tournament, SRK was seen celebrating the championship with the entire city as he went around the city of Mumbai celebrating with fans.
In the promo shared by ICC on Thursday, Shah Rukh explains the importance of ‘one day’ as he says, “The difference between making history and being history: One day. Jerseys will be worn, and chests will swell with pride, on that one day. Passion will triumph logic, and memories will be etched, on that one day. Fears will be conquered, and odds will be braved, on that one day. From the highs of joy to the lows of anguish, it will all be embraced, on that one day.”
The 2 minute 13 seconds also features several former and current cricketers. One of them is the former captain of defending champions England, Eoin Morgan. He was the captain of England in 2019 when the tournament was held at their home turf. Morgan led his country to their first ICC World Cup title. He announced his retirement from international cricket last year.
Another star cricketer in the video is former South African cricketer Jonty Rhodes. He is known for his extraordinary fielding skills as he became the first South African to take 100 catches in ODI format. Rhodes retired from international cricket in 2003 ending his 11-year long career in international cricket. Jonty Rhodes is currently the fielding coach of IPL team Lucknow Giants.
The ICC promo also features the ‘magician’ from Sri Lanka, Muttiah Muralitharan. Known for his amazing spin bowling, Muralitharan has the highest number of wickets in ODI format at 534. His last ODI match of the career was the ICC World Cup 2011 final against India.
As India is going to host this year’s ICC Men’s World Cup, the video features veteran and young Indian cricketers such as Dinesh Karthik and Shubman Gill. Fans will be expecting a lot from Gill, who is touted as the ‘Prince of Indian cricket’. The video also features the star of India’s Women Team, 22-year-old Jemimah Rodrigues.
The One-Day International format tournament will begin on October 8, with the 2019 finalists England and Australia playing the opening match at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. India vs Pakistan match is scheduled for October 15 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The tournament will end with the final match on November 19 also in Ahmedabad.