Owning an IPL franchise is one thing. Using it as a platform to influence how sport approaches environmental responsibility is something else entirely. Juhi Chawla has done both. As co-owner of the Kolkata Knight Riders alongside Shah Rukh Khan and her husband Jay Mehta, Chawla has helped build one of world cricket’s most valuable and recognisable franchises while demonstrating that success off the field can be measured by more than trophies and commercial growth.

Chawla was there from the very beginning, when the IPL itself was still an experiment built largely on the drawing power of Bollywood’s biggest stars. Alongside Shah Rukh Khan, she helped give the fledgling league and franchise mainstream visibility at a time when its long-term future was anything but certain. Nearly two decades later, Kolkata Knight Riders has evolved into a global cricket brand with franchises spanning the IPL, Major League Cricket’s Los Angeles Knight Riders, the Caribbean Premier League’s Trinbago Knight Riders and the ILT20’s Abu Dhabi Knight Riders. Chawla has remained a visible, engaged owner throughout that journey, helping shape one of franchise cricket’s most influential sporting groups.

What distinguishes her ownership, however, is how she has leveraged that platform beyond cricket. A long-time environmental campaigner, Chawla has made sustainability a central part of KKR’s identity. Under her guidance, the franchise’s environmental initiatives have grown from the original “Plant a 6” campaign into the ambitious “Runs to Roots” programme, which pledged to plant 10 trees for every run scored during the IPL. In 2026, KKR also partnered with VIDA on the “6 for 6” campaign, with every six struck by the team contributing to the installation of EV fast chargers across India, once again linking on-field success to measurable environmental impact. KKR has planted thousands of trees across Kolkata and the Sundarbans while also implementing one of cricket’s leading stadium sustainability programmes, recycling more than 53,000 kilograms of waste over the past few years.

That commitment reflects Chawla’s own philosophy. An Earth Day Network Ambassador for India, she has spent years advocating for organic farming, reducing single-use plastics and encouraging more sustainable lifestyles. Those beliefs have translated directly into cricket, from replacing plastic cheer materials with biodegradable alternatives to using one of the world’s largest cricket franchises to encourage fans to participate in environmental action.

While her achievements in Indian cinema made her a household name, her influence within cricket has been built differently. It comes from sustained ownership, long-term stewardship and a willingness to use one of the sport’s biggest commercial platforms to pursue causes that extend well beyond the boundary. In doing so, Juhi Chawla has expanded the role of a franchise owner from investor and ambassador to someone capable of shaping both the culture and the broader impact of the modern game.