Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) mentor Gautam Gambhir was a relieved man as the two-time champions qualified for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 playoffs on Saturday after beating Mumbai Indians (MI). Gambhir was all smiles as he took a sigh of relief after MI batter Tilak Varma was dismissed by Harshit Rana on the third ball of the final over of the match. Tilak was batting on 32 off 16 balls with MI chasing 158 in a 16-overs-a-side match at Eden Gardens. With Tilak threatening to pull MI clear in the chase, Rana produced a moment of magic to dismiss him.
KKR had finished seventh in each of the last two seasons, but the team has looked well-drilled this season with the arrival of Gambhir.
With KKR sitting top with 19 points from 13 matches, former India cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu has credited this turnaround to the presence of Gambhir in the dugout.
“I have seen Gautam Gambhir gets inspired when the situation gets tough. He starts advising and that’s how it should be. Anybody can be a pilot when the sea is calm but you only learn when in adverse situations,” Sidhu said on Star Sports.
Sidhu also pointed out how KKR have massively improved in the bowling department, with as many as five players claiming 10 or more wickets so far.
“KKR is the only team with five bowlers who have taken 10 wickets each and the sixth has taken 9 wickets. Show me a team that has six bowlers who have 60 wickets between them,” he added.
Sidhu questioned the decision to splash Rs 24.75 on Australian pacer Mitchell Starc, and instead described star all-rounder Sunil Narine as the “MVP”.
“The most valuable player in the tournament is Sunil Narine. Who got (Mitchell) Starc? Everybody was talking about Rs 23 crore (Rs 24.75 crore being splurged on a single player). The cynic knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. It is the value addition, boss! Don’t measure him in crores. See what value addition he is bringing,” Sidhu further explained.
