The cricketing bug has bitten Shah Rukh Khan [Images] in a big way.

Not shooting for any film currently, SRK [Images] is giving all his time and attention to cricket after he won the bid of the Kolkata Indian Premier League team for nearly Rs 300 crore (Rs 3,000 million).

A source informed Gullu that SRK trying his best to woo India's ODI captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni [Images]. They had starred together in a Videocon [Get Quote] ad and since then have developed a close friendship.

Apparently, Dhoni is the most sought after player in the IPL, the Board of Control for Cricket in India's multi-million dollar Twenty20 league, which is scheduled to start on April 18.

The players' auction will take place in Mumbai on February 20, and Dhoni's asking price is reportedly around $400,000 (about Rs 1.6 crore).

It is still unclear, however, whether Dhoni will join SRK's team considering the fact that it is being led by former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly [Images], who is keen on having Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist [Images] in his team.

Ganguly and Dhoni are not in the best of terms after the former was not picked for the ongoing tri-series in Australia. It is alleged that Dhoni was unhappy with Ganguly's fitness and hence, did not want him in the team.

Another player that SRK wants in his team is Shoaib Akhtar [Images]. But the Pakistani fast bowler is keen to join the Mumbai team, owned by the Reliance Industries [Get Quote].

The auction on Wednesday will be quite interesting with each side's spending capped at $5 million (about Rs 20 crore) for a maximum of eight contracted players each. More than 80 international cricketers are expected to feature in the auction.