"Already brought many changes" - Varun Chakaravarthy on Gautam Gambhir's impact on KKR ahead of IPL 2024
Published - 03 Mar 2024, 10:11 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 10:27 AM
Gautam Gambhir will be mentoring the Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2024. He quit the Lucknow Super Giants ahead of the auction and joined the KKR franchise. He was present at the IPL 2024 auction as well as part of the KKR think tank and played a big role in their picks.
Gautam Gambhir won two IPL titles with KKR as captain in 2012 and 2014 and is now looking to win the third title for the franchise as part of the team management. He shared an emotional post after joining the franchise and was all emotional about it.
“I am not an emotional person and not many things move me. But this is different. This is back to where it all started. Today, there is a lump in my throat and fire in my heart as I think about slipping into that purple and gold jersey once again. I am not only coming back to KKR but I am coming back to the city of joy. I am back. I am hungry. I am number 23. Ami KKR,” tweeted Gambhir.
Meanwhile, Varun Chakaravarthy, who is practicing at the KKR camp ahead of IPL 2024 gave a glimpse of how the players are training under the watchful eyes of the former KKR captain. He said that Gambhir has already brought about a lot of changes and has even requested players to play in the DY Patil tournament as well.
“Gautam Gambhir has already brought many changes. We are having more longer camps than in previous seasons. He also wanted all KKR players to play in the DY Patil T20 tournament,” Varun Chakaravarthy said.
🗣Varun CV: Gautam Gambhir has already brought many changes. We are having more longer camps than previous seasons. He also wanted all KKR players to play in the DY Patil T20 tournament." pic.twitter.com/oWp9YGYz9d
— KnightRidersXtra (@KRxtra) March 3, 2024
Meanwhile, KKR announced on March 1 that they will start their pre-season camp for IPL 2024 in Kolkata from March 15. The franchise played the final of IPL 2021 but then failed to make the knockouts of the next two seasons.
KKR also announced the return of Shreyas Iyer as captain of the franchise in IPL 2024. He missed out the previous season due to an injury. He then made a brilliant comeback in the Indian team scoring over 500 runs in the World Cup.
Currently, he has lost out on his BCCI central contract after opting out from domestic cricket due to his persistent back problems. However, with BCCI axing him, he returned to playing domestic cricket for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy semi-final against Tamil Nadu. He scored just three off 8 balls in the first innings.
Gautam Gambhir Quit His Political Commitments To Join KKR
Speaking of Gautam Gambhir, the KKR mentor also quit his political commitments to join the franchise ahead of IPL 2024.
“I have requested Hon’ble Party President @JPNadda ji to relieve me of my political duties so that I can focus on my upcoming cricket commitments. I sincerely thank Hon’ble PM @narendramodi ji and Hon’ble HM @AmitShah ji for giving me the opportunity to serve the people. Jai Hind!” he wrote on his Twitter handle.
I have requested Hon’ble Party President @JPNadda ji to relieve me of my political duties so that I can focus on my upcoming cricket commitments. I sincerely thank Hon’ble PM @narendramodi ji and Hon’ble HM @AmitShah ji for giving me the opportunity to serve the people. Jai Hind!
— Gautam Gambhir (Modi Ka Parivar) (@GautamGambhir) March 2, 2024
KKR play three games in the first phase of IPL 2024. They play SRH first on March 23 in Kolkata followed by matches against RCB (March 29) and DC (April 3).
