[Watch] Shahrukh Khan shares hug with Gautam Gambhir, Shreyas Iyer & Chandrakant Pandit after KKR's thrilling win over SRH in IPL 2024

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) co-owner Shahrukh Khan was elated after the side's thrilling four-run win against SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in their IPL 2024 season opener at Eden Gardens.

The Bollywood star gave a warm hug to mentor Gautam Gambhir, skipper Shreyas Iyer, and head coach Chandrakant Pandit post-match. Shahrukh was also shown several times during the game as he cheered for KKR in their opening encounter of IPL 2024.

Meanwhile, Gambhir returned to the franchise as mentor after playing the role with LSG in 2022 and 2023.

Here is a video of 'King Khan' hugging the leadership core of the Kolkata Knight Riders after the win:

Coming to the game, KKR were in early trouble at 51/4 after being asked to bat first by SRH skipper Pat Cummins. However, an Andre Russell special in the final few overs helped the home side reach a formidable 208/7 in 20 overs.

The West Indian all-rounder scored 64* off 25, including seven maximums and three boundaries to propel KKR from an iffy situation to the ascendency.

In reply, SRH got off to the ideal start with openers Mayank Agarwal and Abhishek Sharma adding 60 inside the powerplay. Yet, Sunil Narine put the clamps on the batters in the middle overs with outstanding figures of 1/19 in four overs.

With the game seemingly out of reach, Heinrich Klaasen took matters into his own hands and scripted a stunning resurgence. The South African batter scored a belligerent 63 off 29 to reduce the equation to 7 off 5 deliveries to win.

Yet, pacer Harshit Rana held his nerve and dismissed Klaasen off the penultimate delivery of the match to help KKR win by four runs.

"This is the time where he could become a hero" - KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer's message to Harshit Rana

Kolkata Knight Riders captain Shreyas Iyer admitted to motivating Harshit Rana before the final over by asking him to grab the moment and become a hero.

After an expensive penultimate over of 26 runs from Mitchell Starc, Rana had to defend 13 off the last over. He overcame conceding a six off the first ball by picking up two wickets and giving away only two runs in the remaining five deliveries.

At the post-match presentation, a relieved Iyer said:

"Right from the 17th over I had butterflies in my stomach. And to be honest, in the last over I thought anything can happen, They needed 13 runs and we probably didn't have the most experienced bowler bowling at that particular time. But I had that belief in him. I knew that something would happen. "This is the time where he could become a hero. That's what I told him. 'Back yourself. No matter what happens in this position, we're going to back you."

After missing the playoffs last season, KKR welcomed back skipper Shreyas Iyer, who missed the entire IPL 2023, with a thrilling win.

They will take on the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their next outing at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on March 29.