Shah Rukh feels cricket is commercially viable

PUNE: Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan has explained that the chance to make money from cricket and channelling it to other sports was the main reason for him to get involved with the Cricket Board-promoted Indian Premier League.
"Commerce and business are very important in today's world. Cricket is commercially viable and we need to make money from this sport," said the actor, who has bought the Kolkata franchise of the IPL, in Pune on Wednesday night. Shah Rukh said this in the presence of Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President and MP Suresh Kalmadi who, in turn, appealed to the superstar to share his celeb status with other sports also. "I am very happy with Chak de India and the work you did for hockey. But I'm disappointed you went back to cricket. I want you to be made the ambassador of the Commonwealth Games and Olympic sports in India," said Kalmadi at the inauguration of the Abhijit Kadam Memorial Football Cup. "There are around 10 nations playing cricket at the moment and over 200 countries competing in Olympic sports. Cricket has many fathers and I would love to have you as the brand ambassador for the Commonwealth Games," he added. However, the comments did not go well with the actor, who took a jibe at the IOA President. "Please don't feel bad that I am backing only one sport. Sports should be part of our second nature and I am a sportsperson by heart," he said. "(My) next step would be to take it (money earned in IPL) to hockey, football, kho kho, also kabaddi and gulli danda," he remarked.