Gautam Gambhir is KKR’s lucky charm- In the final of IPL 2024, Kolkata Knight Riders defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by 8 wickets to capture the trophy. Along with this, KKR also managed to end their 10-year trophy drought. This win of Kolkata Knight Riders is being credited to the entire team as well as the coaching staff. Gautam Gambhir, who is returning to the team as a mentor, is being hailed as KKR’s lucky charm. Under the leadership of Gautam Gambhir, KKR won its last title 10 years ago. Under Gambhir’s captaincy, KKR became champions in 2012 and 2014. Now after 10 years with the return of Gambhir, KKR have captured the trophy again.
IPL 2024 Final KKR vs SRH: Who won Man of the Match Award, Man of the Tournament
Gautam Gambhir has a strong CV
Gautam Gambhir is known in the cricketing world for his aggression, be it as a player, captain or mentor. This is the reason why whenever he is with a team he appears with full enthusiasm. After retiring from this league as a player, Gambhir started his career as a mentor in the IPL with Lucknow Super Giants. He took this fledgling IPL franchise to the playoffs twice, when he got the chance to return home to KKR, he accepted the offer without any hesitation.
Gautam Gambhir gave a message to all the players of Kolkata Knight Riders at the beginning of the season that there is no player bigger than the game and all the players in the team are equal whether they are foreign or local. Along with this he also said that he is watching his team play the final on May 26. Perhaps Gambhir’s speech kept the spirits of the KKR players high throughout the season.
Gambhir’s master class moves were amazing
Gautam Gambhir became the first auction winner after returning to the KKR team. Gambhir included Mitchell Starc in his team by placing the highest bid of 24.75 crores. At that time everyone was saying that this was just a waste of money, but no one could read Gambhir’s mind. Gambhir gave the Australian fast bowler a chance throughout the season. Although Starc proved costly early on, he showed his A game in the playoffs when his team needed him the most. Now the whole world is praising this master stroke of Gambhir.
Apart from this, Gambhir also implemented his old strategy of opening the innings with Sunil Narine. After Gambhir’s departure, KKR started the innings with Sunil Narine for a season, but due to lack of coordination, the move did not work for KKR. But he knows how to bring out the best in serious players. With Gambhir’s return, Narine got a chance to open again and became the team’s highest scorer with 488 runs.
Under Gambhir’s guidance, Kolkata Knight Riders did not make much changes to their playing eleven. The two uncapped Indian pacers Harshit Rana and Vaibhav Arora have been with the team since the start, while Varun Chakraborty, Mitchell Starc, Sunil Narine and Andre Russell have wreaked havoc with the bowling.
Barring Vaibhav Arora, all other bowlers took 17 or more wickets in the season. This bowling attack of KKR is being considered as the best bowling attack in the history of IPL.
The team’s performance in batting was also top class. Phil Salt along with Sunil Narine created a lot of havoc throughout the season, but when he returned to his home country ahead of the playoffs, KKR fans were left wondering who would fill his void?
Gambhir had placed a bet on Rahmanullah Gurbaz in the auction for this day only. KKR inducted Gurbaz into their camp by spending just Rs 50 lakh. In the final, this player from Afghanistan won everyone’s hearts first with his wicketkeeping and then with his batting.
Talking about KKR’s middle order, the Iyer duo kept the team under control throughout the season. Venkatesh Iyer didn’t have a good last year, but this year he wreaked havoc with his bat. Shreyas Iyer also showed his full strength. Andre Russell and Rinku Singh haven’t had the chance to finish many matches this year, but both players have performed in the interest of the team in whatever opportunities they have had.
Ramandeep Singh was such a hidden hero in the KKR team that no team noticed him. The player completed several matches for KKR and showed strength in the fielding as well.
The arrival of Gautam Gambhir brought unity to the KKR team once again, due to which the team managed to win the title after 10 years.