MI vs KKR: Rohit Sharma labelled a nightmare by Gautam Gambhir ahead of the clash

As the Mumbai Indians gear up to welcome the Kolkata Knight Riders later tonight, an old video of KKR mentor Gautam Gambhir has resurfaced on the internet.

During his time as captain of the Knight Riders (2011-2017), Gautam Gambhir was once asked about that one player that gives him nightmares or sleepless nights. Gambhir, who had won 2 IPL titles by then, was quick to name 5-time IPL winning captain with Mumbai Indians - the one and only Rohit Sharma.

Gautam Gambhir said Rohit Sharma was much more dangerous than Gayle & de Villiers

While speaking to Star Sports a couple of years ago, Gautam Gambhir had claimed that Rohit Sharma was not only responsible for giving him sleepless nights. That Rohit was actually the only batsman in the Indian Premier League he used to actually fear.

Game recognises game 🙌🏽

"The only batsman I feared in IPL was @<!---->I<!---->m<!---->R<!---->o<!---->4<!---->5", @<!---->G<!---->a<!---->u<!---->t<!---->a<!---->m<!---->G<!---->a<!---->m<!---->b<!---->h<!---->i<!---->r praises the Indian captain's batting prowess! 😳

Will he lead #<!---->T<!---->e<!---->a<!---->m<!---->I<!---->n<!---->d<!---->i<!---->a to glory in the #<!---->T<!---->2<!---->0<!---->W<!---->o<!---->r<!---->l<!---->d<!---->C<!---->u<!---->p<!---->2<!---->0<!---->2<!---->4?

📺 | #<!---->M<!---->I<!---->v<!---->K<!---->K<!---->R | TODAY, 6:30 PM | #<!---->I<!---->P<!---->L<!---->O<!---->n<!---->S<!---->t<!---->a<!---->r p<!---->i<!---->c<!---->.<!---->t<!---->w<!---->i<!---->t<!---->t<!---->e<!---->r<!---->.<!---->c<!---->o<!---->m<!---->/<!---->e<!---->E<!---->a<!---->v<!---->5<!---->G<!---->b<!---->K<!---->G<!---->5

— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) M<!---->a<!---->y<!----> <!---->3<!---->,<!----> <!---->2<!---->0<!---->2<!---->4

To hear this from someone like Gautam Gambhir, who was always up for an aggressive contest in the cricket field, is quite uncanny. Gambhir rarely shies away from eyeballing and having upfront slurs with opposing players. In the IPL, his most famous tussle has been against none other than his own statesman Virat Kohli but that too has died down now.

During his international playing days, Gautam Gambhir used to never back down from taking a fight for his team be it with the bat or with the mouth. One such incident that flashes across was the abusive altercation he had with legendary Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi.

So for him to say that he fears Rohit Sharma, is a big achievement for the current Indian captain.

In his own words, this is what Gambhir had said, "See for me in my entire IPL career as a captain if there's only player who has given me sleepless nights, then it is Rohit Sharma. The only batsman I have feared in IPL is Rohit Sharma. The only player who has given me sleepless nights."

"No Chris Gayle no AB de Villiers no one, only Rohit Sharma because I knew that I had to have Plan A, Plan B probably Plan C as well because if Rohit is in, I don't think that anyone can control him. I've never planned for any other batter except Rohit Sharma." - Gautam Gambhir concluded.

It will be interesting to see how well Gautam Gambhir might have prepared his KKR team to take the fight against Rohit Sharma and the Mumbai Indians. But one thing's for sure, all the fans are up for another IPL thriller later tonight.

MI Vs KKR: Head-head stats

The head-to-head stats between the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Mumbai Indians suggest that the 5-time champions are far ahead of the 2-time champions. From 32 meetings between them, MI have come out on top 23 times whereas KKR have won only 9 games against them.

During their match-up last season, MI had won by 5-wickets. In the 2022 season, Shreyas Iyer's side had picked up double victories against MI and it remains to be seen how things pan out between them this time.