Gautam Gambhir has been leading the way for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the IPL 2024 and has given them a style to adhere to, giving them rich success. These were the words of KKR pacer Harshit Rana after the franchise’s big win over Lucknow Super Giants (LSG).
Rana picked 3 wickets in the defence of 235 runs that the visiting team put up earlier at Lucknow’s Ekana Stadium.
Batting first after losing the toss, KKR posted a huge 235/6 with Sunil Narine slamming 81 in 39 balls with 7 sixes and 6 fours. Phil Salt and Angkrish Raghuvanshi with 32 each and some death overs hitting by Shreyas Iyer and Ramandeep Singh were the key highlights of the KKR innings.
In reply, LSG could only manage 137 runs with Marcus Stoinis top-scoring with 36 runs, as KKR won by 98 runs. Apart from Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy picked three wickets as well.
“We focus a lot on the style of cricket that Gautam Gambhir wants us to play” – Harshit Rana
Speaking after the game, Rana lauded the visiting team for reading the game well and said that KKR was trying to focus on the brand of cricket that Gautam Gambhir wanted to play.
Gambhir returned to KKR, where he had won the IPL in 2012 and 2014 as captain, as mentor in IPL 2024. The return brought a dramatic change in the fortunes of the team, who are now in the top spot in the league table.
“KKR read the wicket very well. The areas we had to bowl, we targeted the right places. We focus a lot on the style of cricket that Gautam Gambhir wants us to play. He has a lot of knowledge on how to turn games in our favour. Like today he gave the bowlers a free hand on what areas to target on the pitch,” Rana said on post-match conference.
Asked about his dream, Rana said that his only dream is to play for India.
“My aim is to play for India but whatever franchise I play for I try to give my best on the day of the match. I will be selected based on my performance and performance alone,” Rana concluded.
