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May 22, 2024
The 42-year-old Gambhir asserted that he has always felt that the Chennai and Kolkata sides were very similar in approaching the game during his time.
Kolkata Knight Riders mentor Gautam Gambhir spoke about the rivalry between Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League during the conversation with Ravichandran Ashwin on his YouTube channel on Monday. Out of the 31 head-to-head meetings between the Knight Riders and the Super Kings in the IPL since 2008, CSK holds a significant advantage, clinching victory 19 times compared to KKR’s 11 wins, with one match resulting in no result.
The 42-year-old asserted that he has always felt that the Chennai and Kolkata sides approached the game similarly during his time.
“It’s not only the magnitude of the contest. When two good teams play against each other, it will be an exciting and hard-fought game. I always felt that CSK and KKR were very, very similar in the way they approached the game,” Gambhir said on Ashwin’s YouTube channel.
The former left-hander further stated that the strategies of both sides were very similar.
“The way MS Dhoni used the spinners and we had three quality spinners as well. CSK had three quality spinners, and the conditions, whether in Chepauk or Eden then, were very similar. Chepauk had bigger dimensions as compared to what Eden as a ground is. Our strategies were very similar to each other. That is the reason KKR had to be at our best from the tactical point of view to be able to beat CSK. That’s the reason why I always felt that CSK and KKR during those times were very very similar teams,” the former India opener added.
Gambhir returned to the KKR side as a mentor last November. Before that, he was with Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL 2021 and 2022, where he performed the same role. In his IPL career, the southpaw has played for the Delhi Capitals and KKR. He won two IPL titles as a skipper with the Knight Riders in 2012 and 2014.
Regarding IPL 2024, KKR will play for a spot in the final when they take on Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Qualifier 1 on Tuesday at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Kolkata Knight Riders squad: Shreyas Iyer (c), Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Jason Roy, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Anukul Roy, Suyash Sharma, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, Vaibhav Arora, KS Bharat, Chetan Sakariya, Mitchell Starc, Ramandeep Singh, Angrish Raghuvanshi, Sherfane Rutherford, Manish Pandey, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Gus Atkinson, Sakib Hussain.
Gautam Gambhir has now revealed how he struggled in age-group tournaments.
Gautam Gambhir is having a good time in the IPL 2024. Under his mentorship, Kolkata Knight Riders finished on top of the standings in the league stage. During his playing days, Gambhir led KKR to its first IPL title. Not only in the IPL, Gambhir has an illustrious record in the Indian cricket team. He had a significant role in India winning the 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 ODI World Cup. However, Gautam Gambhir has revealed how he struggled in age-group tournaments.
In a chat show with Ravichandran Ashwin, Gambhir delved into details about his childhood in cricket.
“When I was growing up, maybe when I was 12 or 13 years old, I didn’t get selected when I tried out for my first under-14 tournament because I didn’t touch the selector’s feet. From then I promised myself that I will never ever touch anyone’s feet and I do not let anyone touch my feet,” Gambhir told Ashwin on a YouTube show.
Gambhir said that his affluent family background was also mentioned whenever he encountered failure.
“I remember, coming through my career every time I failed whether it be in the under-16, under-19, Ranji Trophy or even initially in my international career, people would say that you come from a (well-off) family, you don’t need to play cricket. You’ve got so many (options), you can join your dad’s business,” he said.
“So that was the biggest perception that was hanging on my head. People did not realise that I wanted it more than them. I wanted to beat that perception. So when I was able to do that, no other perception ever bothers me. The toughest perception for me to beat in my life was that I didn’t want it that hard. I wanted it harder than any of them.”
Gambhir also opened up about his relationship with KKR co-owner Shah Rukh Khan on the same show.
“It is the trust of the owner as well I have said it many times in the past I think SRK is the best owner I have ever worked with. The reason is not because now I am back with the KKR. The reason is that in the seven years of me captaining, we had not spoken 70 seconds about cricket. He had never asked me a single question on cricket in those seven years. Can you imagine?” Gambhir said on Ravichandran Ashwin’s YouTube channel.
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Katarzyna Nowak is a seasoned writer with over five years of experience in editorial content, news reporting, and cricket sportsbook app reviews. As an author for Top Cricket News, she combines her deep understanding of the sports betting industry with a passion for cricket, delivering insightful and accurate content that keeps readers informed and engaged.
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