Olympics: When 'ex-coach Kabir Khan' and 'real coach' exchanged pleasantries
India's women hockey team scripted history by reaching the semi-finals at Tokyo Olympics. Praises poured in from all corners and Badshah of Bollywood, Shah Rukh Khan, was not behind either. Staying true to his characteristic wit, Khan, who had played the women's coach in Chak De! India, penned a celebratory note to their actual coach Sjoerd Marijne. Not backing down, the Dutch promptly replied.
Khan asked Marijne to bring Gold for 'billion family members'
After the historic victory, Marijne shared a jolly selfie with the entire squad inside their team bus. "Sorry family, I coming again later," read his cheeky caption. Replying to it, the superstar wrote, "Haan haan no problem. Just bring some Gold on your way back....for a billion family members. This time Dhanteras is also on 2nd Nov. From: Ex-coach Kabir Khan."
Marijne pulled the 'real coach' card in his reply. Ouch!
For the unversed, Kabir Khan was SRK's name in Chak De! India. The Indian team's coach then played along and claimed his title of the "real coach." His reply read, "Thank you for all the support and love. We will give everything again. From: The Real Coach," followed by a mandatory wink face emoji. Naturally, netizens had a field day with the funny banter.
Check out the interaction here
Indian women advanced to the semis first time in history
On a serious note, Marijne's side defeated Australia in the quarter-final to advance to the semis. This is the first time in history that the Indian women's team has achieved this feat. They will now take on Argentina with the aim of winning a first-ever Olympic medal. Gurjit Kaur had scored the only goal in the game to lead India to a 1-0 victory.
'Chak De!' also saw India defeat Australians in the finals
In Khan's 2007 hit movie, Kabir Khan was seen leading the women's hockey team in the Hockey World Cup. The fictional team struggled in the beginning, but managed to win the trophy by (coincidentally) beating Australia in the final. Real and reel merged slightly, as the Rani Rampal-led side also suffered three back-to-back defeats in the tournament. Hoping for a Chak De in reality!
