The Diary of a Cricketer\u2019s Wife, written by Cheteshwar Pujara\u2019s wife, Puja<\/a> (published by Harper Fiction, 2025). Long before he became a mainstay in India\u2019s Test team, Pujara\u2019s cricket career nearly came to a halt \u2014 and Shah Rukh Khan and the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) played a pivotal role in saving it.<\/p>\nThe Injury That Could Have Ended It All<\/p>\n
After a stellar 2008 domestic season, Pujara was set to make his mark in the IPL. KKR had promised him a spot in the playing eleven, and his future looked bright. But during a practice match, a routine attempt at a catch turned disastrous.<\/p>\n
\u201cDestiny 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 \u2014 all without playing a single game for KKR,\u201d the book recalls.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Shah Rukh Khan Steps In<\/p>\n
KKR management immediately took responsibility. The franchise promised to cover all medical expenses and arranged for Pujara to undergo surgery in Cape Town, South Africa, where doctors specialised in sports injuries.<\/p>\n
Pujara\u2019s father, however, was hesitant. He did not have a passport and wanted his son to return to Rajkot, where a trusted family friend, Dr Nirbhay Shah, could operate. He was worried about the lack of a support system abroad.<\/p>\n
Shah Rukh Khan personally reassured him that South Africa was the best place to have the surgery and not India.<\/p>\n
\u201cShah 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\u2019s abilities, he offered to fly him and any family members I wanted with me,\u201d Pujara\u2019s father is quoted as saying in the book.<\/p>\n
Making the Impossible Happen<\/p>\n
KKR efficiently handled passports, visas, and travel arrangements in record time, making what seemed impossible happen. Shah Rukh personally reassured Pujara’s family that KKR would fly out anyone needed to support one of the junior-most members of the team.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll also fly down anyone you want for the surgery. We\u2019ll pay them here so that you have your own people around you,\u201d a representative told Pujara\u2019s family, ensuring he had complete support during the critical surgery. Within days, Pujara\u2019s father and Dr Shah were in Cape Town, Puja writes.<\/p>\n
From Setback to Success<\/p>\n
The surgery was successful, and Pujara recovered fully. While his IPL career never took off, he went on to become one of India\u2019s most dependable Test batsmen<\/a>, delivering several match-defining innings for India.<\/p>\nThis story, revealed through Puja Pujara\u2019s book, offers a rare glimpse of the human side of Shah Rukh Khan and the professionalism of KKR, showing how timely support can make a huge difference in a player\u2019s career.<\/p>\n
– Ends<\/p>\n
Published By: <\/p>\n
Kingshuk Kusari<\/p>\n
Published On: <\/p>\n
Nov 8, 2025<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cheteshwar Pujara may not be a household name in the Indian Premier League, but a defining moment of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":251053,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[45188,104617,104618,104616,104619,1721,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-251052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-cheteshwar-pujara","tag-cheteshwar-pujara-ipl","tag-cheteshwar-pujara-shah-rukh-khan","tag-cheteshwar-pujara-test","tag-cheteshwar-pujara-wife-book","tag-cricket","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251052"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251052\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/251053"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}