The rift between Sourav Ganguly and Shah Rukh Khan was clearly visible last year in May when the duo didn’t exchange a hug while shooting for a commercial in Mumbai.

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Just before that tensions in Shah Rukh Khan’s cricket team had become apparent when Sourav said openly he has been ‘replaced as a captain’ and his coach John Buchanan is putting forward a new ‘rotating captain’ theory without even informing him. Shah Rukh then didn’t interfere — at least that’s what he said publicly.

Much has happened since then — numerous meetings between the duo, Shah Rukh making an appearance in the Sourav Ganguly-hosted Bengali TV reality quiz show and a couple of good knocks from Sourav in this year’s tournament.

Now, finally the equation seems to have changed between them. Shah Rukh says, “It’s good to see Dada (as Sourav is fondly called) among the runs. I told them (players) at the start of this season that we cannot do worse than last year.”

While interacting with a select group of journos, Shah Rukh admits indirectly that he had also heard about the demands for the retirement of Ganguly after the bad show last year.

“For a cricketer like Ganguly, we will never say when to retire. Ganguly, Sachin (Tendulkar), (Rahul) Dravid, (Anil) Kumble are legends. They are the best ones to decide on their career,” says Shah Rukh.

Shah Rukh then says in his imitable style, “Till they hang their boots, shirts, trousers… we will continue to iron them.”

However, Shah Rukh still maintains that he is not involved with cricketing matters. “I feel if I tell them how to play, they will tell me how to act,” he says, adding, “I don’t tell them (the players) much. I can only love them. Business decisions are taken by Juhi (Chawla) and Jai (Mehta). I just come to entertain.”