Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) new mentor Dwayne Bravo said that he messaged Gautam Gambhir to take some tips ahead of Indian Premier League 2025 (IPL 2025). Bravo has taken the place of Gautam Gambhir, who now serves as the head coach of the Indian cricket team.
Under Gautam Gambhir, KKR managed to end their 10-year long wait for an IPL trophy as he guided them to their third title under the leadership of Shreyas Iyer. Being entrusted to emulate Gautam Gambhir’s success in the upcoming season, Dwayne Bravo compared his style with the former India batter Gautam Gambhir ahead of the upcoming season.
Kolkata Knight Riders mentor, Gautam Gambhir seems to be enjoying his new stint as national coach. 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. Gautam Gambhir’s mentorship is played a key role in giving them the third title in IPL 2024
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.
Kolkata Knight Riders under the mentorship of Gautam Gambhir has tasted success IPL 2024 with a third title win which added to Gautam Gambhir’s glorious coaching career elevating him to the success in the international arena with Champions Trophy 2025. The former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) all-rounder Dwayne Bravo revealed that he messaged him a few times to ask some questions and said he will continue the good work left by Gambhir in the upcoming season.
KKR mentor Dwayne Bravo recalls texting Gautam Gambhir after taking over his role ahead of IPL 2025
Newly appointed Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) mentor Dwayne Bravo admits sending messages to his predecessor Gautam Gambhir, who vacated the role to take over as Team India head coach in 2024. The Caribbean legend left his post as bowling coach with the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to join the three-time winners ahead of the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) season.
Gautam Gambhir remains a revered figure in the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) having played a crucial on and off the field in each of their three title wins so far. The former player had a significant influence on the side as a mentor as the franchise ended a ten-year wait for a title. Dwayne Bravo admitted that he will implement some of the practices and standards Gautam Gambhir has set with the core players while also infusing his own style of management.
“It’s going to be disrespectful of me not to try out some of the good things that he did last season, but also the core of the team is still there, and that was our responsibility to go back into the auction and try our best to get back as many players from the championship winning team,” Bravo said in a press conference released on KKR’s social media outlets.
“I think GG has his style, I have my style. We are both successful in out own ways. I messaged him a few times. I will be leaning a lot on these guys (captain and coach) because they had a successful formula, and it is important that we follow that,” he added.
Bravo also served as Afghanistan’s bowling consultant during the 2024 T20 World Cup. Apart from the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Bravo also holds the mentor post for the remaining franchises in the Knight Riders umbrella in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), Major League Cricket (MLC), and International League T20 (ILT20).
The former West Indies player was influential behind the scenes in each of his coaching roles so far. He worked closely with players like Tushar Deshpande, Naveen-ul-Haq, and Fazalhaq Farooqi in recent times, who went to have prolific campaigns. KKR all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer expressed his optimism surrounding Bravo’s addition into the support staff.
“I feel he is a hardworking tactician of what I have heard of him. I have always seen him go around in the boundaries, keeps talking to the bowlers. Nothing can beat experience. He’s played so many games, he’s won so many games for West Indies and the franchises that he has played for,” Venkatesh Iyer said.
KKR are scheduled to play the opening clash in IPL 2025 on Friday, March 22 against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the Eden Gardens.