Shah Rukh Khan, principal owner of the Kolkata Knight Riders, is expected to be at Eden Gardens on Thursday, when the franchise open their home campaign against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Sources told The Telegraph that the Pathaan star will arrive in the city on the day of the match. The superstar has been a regular visitor at the Eden during the Knights’ home engagements since the IPL’s inaugural edition in 2008.

Shah Rukh was present for a few matches during IPL 2019, the last time the tournament was held in India in a home-and-away format before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. The last time he was present at the Eden was during the Knight Riders’ final home match, against Mumbai Indians, on April 28.

The Knights had won that match by 34 runs, breaking a six-match losing streak. In a wonderful gesture, Shah Rukh had thanked the full house taking a round of the stadium with the entire team behind him.

It is not clear if Shah Rukh will get time to speak to the players before they leave for the Eden on Thursday but it has been a practice followed by the principal owner in the previous years. A host of other Bollywood stars are also likely to accompany Shah Rukh.

The Knight Riders lost their opening match this season to Punjab Kings by seven runs, via the DLS method, in Mohali. They are keen to make amends in front of their home crowd in what promises to be a fiery contest against an in-form Virat Kohli.

In the absence of an injured Shreyas Iyer, the Knights’ top-order has looked shaky. The unavailability of Shakib-al Hasan has also come as another blow.

The Knight Riders camp is, however, very upset with the delay because of a power failure at the start of their innings in Mohali. “We lost at least four overs during that period. Who knows what could have happened,” a KKR official told The Telegraph.