Kolkata Knight Riders mentor, Gautam Gambhir seems to be enjoying his new stint. Gautam Gambhir was announced as the mentor of the Kolkata Knight Riders ahead of the IPL 2024. Gautam Gambhir expressed his joy over returning to his 2nd home, Kolkata, as he will mentor the KKR team during IPL 2024. Gautam Gambhir had led KKR to 2 title wins in IPL 2012 and 2014.
Kolkata Knight Riders mentor Gautam Gambhir has ‘serious’ advice for his players ahead of the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League. Gautam Gambhir, who led KKR to two titles during his tenure as captain, said that IPL is not about Bollywood or other glamour attached to it but an opportunity for players to express themselves in the toughest league in the world.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) welcomes Gautam Gambhir
KKR, who won their last IPL title way back in 2014, signed Gautam Gambhir as their mentor as the veteran Indian opener left Lucknow Super Giants after spending two years with them for a homecoming in Kolkata. He was present with other members of KKR at the IPL 2024 players’ auction where the franchise splurged a record-breaking INR 24.75 crore to sign Mitchell Starc.
KKR are only the third franchise after Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians to win multiple IPL titles. However, things have not worked out well for them in the last couple of seasons where they finished seventh spot and failed to reach the playoffs and Gautam Gambhir would look to set things right from the offset.
When Gambhir landed in the city of joy, Kolkata, he received a warm welcome and called the place his second home. He was also thankful to the fans who gave him a rousing welcome at the airport and also called the KKR team an emotion. He had a successful stint with KKR as captain from 2011, where he led the team to 2 title wins in 2012 and 2014.
After his retirement from cricket, Gambhir took over the role of Lucknow Super Giants’ mentor in the 2022 and 2023 seasons. He had a successful stint with coach Andy Flower by providing his useful insights as the team qualified for the play-offs in both the seasons. Gambhir will look to translate his success as a mentor and as well as an ex-captain for KKR. The mentor had already started the practice session of the team on an inspiring note with a motivational speech.
Lucknow Super Giants post Gautam Gambhir’s exit has appointed Former Australian coach Justin Langer as their coach for IPL 2024. Ahead of the season start in 2024, Justin Langer has opened up on Gautam Gambhir’s contribution for LSG and how his absence would hurt the bowlers he developed especially young rookies like Ravi Bishnoi and all.
Gautam Gambhir is a hero at KKR- Justin Langer
Lucknow Super Giants coach Justin Langer is a bit disappointed as he didn’t get the opportunity to work with former LSG mentor Gautam Gambhir as the latter took the mentoring role of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) ahead of IPL 2024 season. However Justin Langer isn’t looking at KKR vs LSG game in IPL 2024 as the rivalry with Gambhir. Langer explained how many ‘good friends’ he had in the coaching staff of multiple IPL teams this season and believes it would be just like any other game of cricket.
Speaking to the reporters in the pre-season press conference , here’s what Justin Langer has to say about Gautam Gambhir’s departure from LSG to KKR :
“There is no face-off. I was disappointed when he left for KKR but he is a hero at KKR. We are good friends. But then we play DC, where my good friend Ricky Ponting is the coach. Then at CSK, Stephen Fleming and Michael Hussey are good friends,”
LSG made the Eliminator in both their editions under the mentoring of Gautam Gambhir. Langer has also been successful in the shortest format as he was the head coach when Australia enjoyed their maiden T20 World Cup triumph in 2021. He believes he will be having ‘sleepless nights’ trying to get the best possible LSG XI on the pitch.
Justin Langer on LSG’s spin resources
“Ravi Bishnoi is an outstanding bowler. I love his energy. I have watched his training. There’s no better pure leg-spinner than Mishi (Amit Mishra). I saw young M Siddharth, who bowled a maiden over first-up in a training game. There is Krishnappa Gowtham,”
It will be interesting to see if Justin Langer can hit the ground running straightaway as the new LSG coach. They begin their IPL 2024 season against the Rajasthan Royals on Sunday, March 24.