‘It’s not about Bollywood, it’s not about you..’ – KKR mentor Gautam Gambhir warns his players ahead of IPL 2024
Gautam Gambhir (Source: Google)
Former India opener Gautam Gambhir joined Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) as batting mentor in the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). He is known for his brilliant captaincy in KKR. Under Gambhir’s captaincy, KKR lifted the coveted trophy 2 times in 2012 and 2014.
He is also famous for his straightforward attitude in and out of the field. Ahead of IPL 2024, Gambhir strictly warned his players. According to him, IPL is the toughest tournament in the world and the tournament is for showcasing talent and skills. His player’s focus should not be on glamour rather than cricket. He would be happy if his players would concentrate only on cricket.
Kolkata Knight Riders have played 108 matches under Gambhir’s captaincy between 2011 to 2017
“I made it very clear on Day 1 that IPL, for me, is serious cricket. It’s not about Bollywood, it’s not about you, it’s not about after party and stuff. It’s about going out there and playing competitive cricket and that’s the reason why I feel is the toughest league in the world because it is proper cricket,” former KKR skipper said on Star Sports.
However, Gautam Gambhir praised KKR fans for their passion for cricket. In the last 10 years, KKR have not won any IPL trophy. Even their performance as a team was very average in IPL.
“I think there are very passionate fans. We need to be honest with them. We need to try and probably bring that happiness on their smiles because I’ve always believed I think the most loyal fans have been fans from Kolkata because they’ve gone through a lot in the first three years of the IPL,” Gambhir said.
Gambhir first time joined as a mentor for LSG in December 2021. Under his mentorship, Lucknow reached the final of the 2022 IPL. He has been great as a mentor, LSG finished third last season also. Two years after joining LSG, Gambhir back his former team KKR. Gambhir played 154 IPL matches, where he scored 4218 runs at an average of 31. Kolkata Knight Riders will face Sunrisers Hyderabad in their first match on March 23 in IPL 2024.
