Real Time

Bangladesh speedster Mashrafe Mortaza is kicked about linking up with Kolkata Knight Riders owner and his childhood craze Shahrukh Khan
Suhrid Barua, Pune Mirror, February 11, 2009
The feeling of looking up to a childhood fan is one thing and rubbing shoulders with him is quite another. Bangladesh speedster Mashrafe Mortaza would soon be experiencing the latter when he links up with Shahrukh Khan, who owns the Kolkata Knight Riders team in part-nership with Juhi Chawla Mehta and her husband, Jai Mehta for this season's IPL campaign."Just to say that I will be interacting with Shahrukh Khan from close quarters gives me a heady feeling. I'm a great fan of his movies, I've watched his first movie, Deewana in 1992, I've also watched Baazigar and many of his other movies. He's a fantastic actor and I'm really excited about meeting him," Mortaza told Mirror from Dhaka over phone.What now matters to the 25-year-old is that he doesn't disappoint the Bollywood Badshah. "That's the last thing I want," he says. "I'm determined not to let any complacency seep into my game. All I'm thinking about is how to translate my consistency showing for the national side into the IPL from game one," he say with guarded optimism.For someone, who makes a crore every season playing for Bangladesh, the amount of US$ 600,000 offered by KKR is clearly much more heftier. So is Mortaza going to do with the whopping amount?. "I will look to save as much as I can for future," he grins.So, no plans to go shopaholic? "I don't think so. As far as personal belongings go, I've whatever I need be it a car or house. Of course, my wife, (Sumana Haque) will be upping her shopping list now," said the gangling bowler, whose family is into prawn farm business.And if there's one regret Mortaza has: it is of seeing him team-mate Shakib Al Hasan unsold. "He has been the most consistent guy for us this season both with the bat and bowl. I feel sorry for him but then there is also an opportunity for a talented player like him in future," he added.