Shakib al Hasan ‘lucky charm’ for KKR, says Jahnavi Mehta, youngest bidder at IPL 2021 auction

Bollywood actor Juhi Chawla’s daughter Jahnavi Mehta on Thursday said Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib al Hasan, having featured in both the Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) title-winning sides, was like a “lucky charm” for them. She also said their strategy for the auction, ahead of the 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), was about “fine tuning”. 

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“It is about fine tuning this time. Shahrukh Khan’s advice was just to go and get who you want. Shakib was part of our team when we won twice, so he’s kind of a lucky charm,” Mehta said. 

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She also expressed delight on having wicket-keeper batsman Sheldon Jackson back in the squad. Jackson, who plays for Puducherry in the Ranji Trophy, previously featured in the KKR squad in 2017. 

KKR shelled out Rs 2 crore for Shakib while paying Rs 20 lakh for Jackson.

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Having narrowly missed out on a playoff spot last year, finishing one spot below the Royal Challengers Bangalore in fourth due to net run rate, Kolkata have also secured the services of veteran offie Harbhajan Singh for his base price of Rs 2 crore. 

They also roped in Australian all-rounder Ben Cutting for Rs 75 lakh, along with batsman Karun Nair for Rs 50 lakh and medium-pacer Vaibhav Arora for Rs 20 lakh.