Did Shah Rukh Khan Save Cheteshwar Pujara's Career? Ex-India Star's Wife Makes Big Revelation

Cheteshwar Pujara joined Kolkata Knight Riders for Indian Premier League (IPL) 2010 but the former Indian cricket team batter did not play a single game after he tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). The serious knee injury is infamous for severely hampering athletes' careers but Pujara's wife Puja has revealed how KKR co-owner Shah Rukh Khan helped them. The Bollywood superstar said that Pujara had a great future ahead of him and the franchise arranged for his surgery in Cape Town.

“Destiny impelled him to dash heedlessly to a ball for a catch that was never there; and the result: a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament, an impending surgery and a temporarily halted cricketing career — all without playing a single game for KKR," Cheteshwar's wife, Puja Pujara, wrote in The Diary of a Cricketer's Wife.

KKR handled passports, visas, and travel, even flying Pujara's father to Cape Town.

“Shah Rukh also told me that Chintu had a great future ahead of him and should have the best available medical treatment. When he realised I was worried about the absence of a support system in South Africa and my faith in Dr Shah's abilities, he offered to fly him and any family members I wanted with me," Pujara's father is quoted as saying in the book.

“We'll also fly down anyone you want for the surgery. We'll pay them here so that you have your own people around you," a representative told Pujara's family, as mentioned in the book.

The surgery was successful and Pujara went on to make a complete recovery. It was a tricky time in Pujara's career as he was making a name for himself with stellar performances in domestic cricket. The injury came at an unfortunate time but the surgery allowed him to bounce back in time.

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