Jahanavi Mehta is the daughter of a successful businessman – Jay Mehta – and a legendary Bollywood actress Juhi Chawla. Most of her childhood has been spent in close contact with the Indian Premier League with her parents being the co-owners of one of the most successful franchises in the T20 league with Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan – Kolkata Knight Riders. It’s no wonder that Jahnavi aspires for a career in sports leadership which can hopefully also help her lead KKR one day. Sunrisers Hyderabad owner Kavya Maran and Punjab Kings co-owner Preity Zinta have proven that female entrepreneurs can successfully lead IPL team in a male-dominated cricket environment. Jahnavi aspires to take this legacy forward in the IPL and spoke about her career ambitions life near KKR India women team’s World Cup 2025 win and more in an EXCLUSIVE interview with India.com website. “I think the goal is to be involved in Indian sport in a leadership capacity whether that’s with Knight Riders and being part of that organization and leading that organization or even anywhere else in Indian sports. Since we are now at a point where we’re seeing other sports starting to grow in India and that’s also quite an exciting opportunity” Jahnavi Mehta told India.com in an exclusive interview. “But ever since I was a child I think the dream has been to lead Knight Riders one day. But I think that’s also evolved over time. And it’s also become a more holistic dream in the sense that I have obviously learned a lot while I’ve been here in the US and I still have a lot more to learn. But one thing I have seen over the last few years working in sports and just you know learning more and more has been how sports can have such a big impact on lives” she added. Juhi Chawla’s daughter added that she wants to use KKR platform to help grow other sports in India as well. “I would like to help grow sports in India and what I mean is using Knight Riders as a platform to grow other sports not just cricket not just women’s cricket but also other sports like football and rugby and tennis” she said. “India can be a sports powerhouse. We can be really really successful in other sports besides cricket and I think that is where the future is going to lead as well. I just want to learn as much as I can from the companies here (in the US) from the leagues here from the teams here because I do feel that they are years ahead of where we are in India” Jahnavi felt. ICC ODI World Cup 2025 win will have huge effect on women’s sport in India: Jahnavi Mehta India women cricket team won their maiden World Cup title 42 years after the men’s team. Harmanpreet Kaur’s Team India defeated South Africa by 52 runs to win the ICC Women ODI World Cup 2025 title for the first time in the nation’s history. Jahnavi Mehta believes Indian win will have a huge positive impact on not only women’s cricket but also women’s sport in general. “It was an amazing final on Sunday. And its just it was so well deserved. Because I mean this is a team that has promised a lot over the last few years. And to see them finally cross this hurdle is amazing. I think it’s going to have such a huge effect on not just women’s cricket but women’s sports all over all over India” Jahnavi said about India’s World Cup win. “I just think that women’s cricket team hasn’t has gotten enough exposure recently we’ve got the WPL and we’re starting to more and more people are starting to be an it’s going to have an amazing inspirational effect on any young girls who want to become professional athletes not necessarily cricket” she added. KKR owner Jahnavi believes there is not enough funding currently in women’s cricket and sports as well. “I just think that it is a big thing that has happened to a lot of young women who want to become professional athletes and it is a very difficult career path. It’s very uncertain. There’s a lack of funding in most women’s sports. There’s a lack of resources lack of support. Definitely there are very big barriers to entry to become a professional female athlete in India and I think this will start to change” she added. I love to watch Suryakumar Yadav bat: Jahnavi Mehta Jahnavi Mehta also opened up on her favourite cricketer and surprisingly he doesn’t play for KKR currently. Suryakumar Yadav was a former batter for the KKR and Jahnavi has a special liking for the Indian T20 skipper. “The favourite cricketer’s question is definitely tough because its very hard for me not to say anyone who plays on any of the Knight Riders teams. I’m very attached to everyone who has played or is currently playing for Knight Riders” Jahnavi said. “But I would say I love watching Sky (Suryakumar Yadav) bat especially in T20s. I think he’s one of the most amazing people to watch just because he can access any part of the field and he has the most outrageous” the KKR co-owner said. Jahnavi also loved Australian pacer Mitchell Starc who KKR had signed up for Rs 24.75 crore in the IPL 2024 auction. “I always loved watching Mitchell Starc bowl especially in Test cricket when he is in full flow and he has a new ball and it’s swinging. I actually get really scared watching him because it genuinely is quite scary sometimes with the kind of pace he bowls. “I would say Mitch Starc and Jasprit Bumrah. I also of course I’m a big fan of Varun Chakravarthy. I think he is someone who has worked very hard on his game. I think he thinks very deeply about his skills and he’s always looking to develop new variations “I’ve always really enjoyed watching Laura Wolvaardt. I think she’s a very classy player. And Alyssa Healy also just because of her grit. I think last but not least I always enjoyed watching Phil Salt. I’ve been a fan of his for years. I just love him for his fire and his intensity. And he fights hard every time he’s on the field” she added.