Gautam Gambhir led the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their first two trophies during the Indian Premier League (IPL), in the 2012 and 2014 seasons, as a captain. Since his exclusion from the side, the Knight Riders only made one appearance in the final during 2012, where they ended in the runners-up position against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
Now, since the comeback from the coaching management of Gautam Gambhir as the new mentor of the Kolkata Knight Riders, they have earned the third trophy in the league during the currently finished 2024 season.
Gambhir made some smart decisions and gave energy to the team to bring the winning mentally of the three-time champions, under the leadership of Shreya Iyer, who too led the troops brilliantly inside the boundary rope.
‘Gautam Gambhir will be tempted to take it’ – Dinesh Karthik
What Gautam Gambhir brought to the table was his winning mentality and not leaving even an inch for the opponents. Creating an environment where he hardly made any difference between the young and the senior players made the campaign quite easy.
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Former Kolkata Knight Riders captain Dinesh Karthik believes that Gambhir will be the ideal choice for India’s head coach job. The wicketkeeper-batter advised that the left-handed opener should think of considering the job if he got the opportunity.
“He (Gautam Gambhir) has built a good team, one that will have a lot of players retained, and he’s left them in a very, very good place. If he gets the opportunity, I really wish he takes it,” Dinesh Karthik expressed during a discussion in Cricbuzz.
“Being part of the national team and the patriotism that he has, I think he will definitely be tempted to take it.”
Karthik feels that Gambhir has injected a winning formula with the franchise, and that could be valuable with the India team, going forward.
“I really wish he comes in because he will infuse that winning culture he’s infused here, and India would do very well under him. When it comes to KKR, whenever he’s back, they’ll take him back with open arms,” Karthik stated.
Even while being with the Lucknow Super Giants for the 2022 and 2023 seasons, Gautam Gambhir took the side to two back-to-back playoff finishes, which is itself a huge honour.
“What a record he’s had as a coach. Being the mentor for LSG, two years on the bounce qualifying, comes to KKR, and they say, ‘Please, got to do something special for us’, ends up with the trophy,” Karthik observed.
“He’s been at the helm, taken all the decisions, be it sending Narine opening, or getting Mitchell Starc in the auction, all of those big recruits and getting the right team, the balance, and then taking all the shots. I’m seeing the news that he could be part of the Indian team as well, and I really wish he does. He has that fire in him.”
The news report also suggest that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have already approached Gautam Gambhir for the India coach job, once Rahul Dravid’s period gets over after the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024.
Karthik also praised the way both the KKR mentor and captain, Gautam Gambhir and Shreyas Iyer respectively have worked together to bring the best of their players.
“They (Gautam Gambhir and Shreyas Iyer) work well, fire and ice. Gambhir is that guy who pushes the team to do those tough things,” Dinesh Karthik, who announced his IPL retirement with the elimination of his current team Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) from 2024 season, responded.
“Shreyas Iyer is a lot more calmer, he’s got a way of approaching things, and he’s handled a lot of the boys who must be going through different mindsets at different points of time with a lot of doubts really well.”
Kolkata Knight Riders finished the league stage with nine wins in 14 games. They easily blew away the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) during the first qualifier, before hammering the same opponents in the final during the 114-run chase, with eight wickets in hand.