IPL 2020 | Started crying after Brendon McCullum announced that I’ll be playing for KKR, reveals Ali Khan

09/21/2020

KKR's latest recruit Ali Khan has revealed that it was a highly emotional moment when Brendon McCullum told him that he will be plying his trade for KKR in the 2020 IPL. Earlier, the medium pace bowler had won his second CPL title in three years with TKR, where he was coached by McCullum.

Getting to play IPL is a dream come true for cricketers all around the world, especially the youngsters, who get to rub shoulders with some of the legends of the game in arguably the biggest franchise-based cricket league that there is in the world. Pakistan-born USA cricketer Ali Khan will be living the dream as he is all set to represent Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2020 IPL. Someone's pain is another's gain, and Khan was roped in as a replacement for English fast bowler Harry Gurney.

Ali Khan will also become the first USA player to feature in the lucrative league. He revealed how unbelievable it was for him when he was told by KKR coach Brendon McCullum that he will be playing for the KKR. The pacer revealed that as soon as he got to know about the news, he started bawling and hugged his TKR teammate Dwayne Bravo.

"As soon as everyone sat in their seats, [Knight Riders coach] Brendon McCullum welcomed everyone to dinner and then he said, ‘A man from the USA will be joining us in Kolkata Knight Riders. I want to take this opportunity to announce that.

"As soon as he said that, I was just like, ‘Is this real?’ DJ Bravo was sitting next to me and then he hugged me. I started crying because it was so emotional. It’s something you dream about and then all of a sudden you hear it in your ears that this actually happened. I was very emotional and I was very happy. Everyone came and congratulated me. We had dinner and Baz gave me a big hug and said, ‘You deserve it.’ I said, ‘Thank you, Baz. I will not let you down’,” Khan was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

The pacer had taken eight wickets from eight matches with an economy rate of 7.43 in this year's CPL.