Archive image by Gautam Gambhir© BCCI/Sportzpics
Nitish Rana paid tribute to Gautam Gambhir on Instagram after Kolkata Knight Riders broke a ten-year drought to win their third IPL title in 2024. Gambhir returned to the KKR bench ahead of the season, taking on a mentor role, after two years with the Super Giants of Lucknow. His influence has clearly been enormous, with Rana hailing him. After two titles as captain of KKR in 2012 and 2014, this is Gambhir’s first as a mentor for the franchise.
“In this era of the Mamba Mentality, soon we will all embrace the XL Mentality too,” Rana captioned on Instagram.
Rana also shared a screenshot of a conversation with Gambhir dated November 22, 2023, where Gambhir talked about “creating something special” in the upcoming season.
Rana was not the only one to credit KKR’s success to Gambhir. Earlier in the season, Sunil Narine also spoke about how Gambhir was instrumental in convincing him to open the batting again.
Even owner Shah Rukh Khan offered a special thanks to Gambhir during KKR’s post-IPL 2024 final celebrations, in a video on the team’s official YouTube channel.
“My special thanks to GG (Gautam Gambhir),” said Shah Rukh. “I only have one request… we have to make GG dance tonight”, he joked.
Kolkata Knight Riders were dominant during IPL 2024, finishing with the highest net run rate (+1,428) in IPL history. They bowled out Sunrisers Hyderabad for a paltry 113 in the final on Sunday night before cruising to victory with almost half the innings remaining.
KKR’s resurgence following Gambhir’s arrival led to rumors circulating on social media naming him as the favorite to succeed Rahul Dravid as India’s next men’s coach. The BCCI is yet to release its final list of candidates.
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