Shah Rukh to fans: Stop comparing me with Ganguly

Kolkata: A visibly annoyed Shah Rukh Khan today sought to put an end to his comparison with KKR’s former captain Sourav Ganguly and asked the fans to “grow up” and stop comparing the two. “Grow up please. This is sport. Let’s play it like a sport. We keep on talking about Kings and Khans… This is crap to be honest. I say this with love and respect to all of you,” SRK said on the sidelines of the Kolkata Knight Riders post-match party. [caption id=“attachment_309821” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Shah Rukh Khan today sought to put an end to his comparison with KKR’s former captain Sourav Ganguly and asked the fans to “grow up” and stop comparing the two. AFP”]  [/caption] The Bollywood superstar, who raged a debate after he dumped the left-hander following a forgettable three-season stint, said it’s high time people get over it and leave the former India skipper alone. “To be honest, if we don’t outgrow this, it is embarrassing not only to us, not only to me, its embarrassing for Dada also…We should get over this. Every time I come to Kolkata, if you are going to bring this up for a few headlines and some spicy titbits I think it’s a little unfair,” he said. “It’s not only unfair to me. It is unfair to the great legend that Sourav Ganguly is… Let him play his cricket, lead his life in whichever team he plays for, whether it’s an Indian team, an IPL team or a domestic team.” “We should all be cheering for the greatness that he has achieved instead of making him small with these comparisons and belittling the importance of what Sourav Ganguly has achieved in Indian sports history,” the actor said. Asked whether he might think of bringing in Ganguly as a mentor for his side, Shah Rukh, in a tongue-in-cheek manner, said, “I’m the mentor of this team. The owner of this team. The hero of this team. I’m the God of this team.” “Generally what I’m saying is we have a lot of love for all the cricketing greats. We have had some wonderful memories with him. We wish him all the best. We wish him whenever he plays. He is one of the great legends the country will ever see in any sport. “Personally, I’m the greatest fan of Dada as far as cricket is concerned. We worked together (for a commercial) many years ago. We had a lot of great moments together with his family,” he reiterated. Ganguly, who headed Pune Warriors against KKR earlier this month at the Eden Garden, stirred Bengali’s emotions to the hilt as loyalties were divided among the masses. The match was seen as a Dada versus Khan battle. The Knight Riders play Mumbai Indians tomorrow at the Wankhede stadium, before heading to Pune for a return leg match on 19 May. Having suffered two defeats in succession, the Knight Riders need to notch one win from their remaining two matches to advance to the next stage. PTI