KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS

IPL-17: LSG vs KKR | Playoffs hopeful Lucknow Super Giants wary of dominant Kolkata Knight Riders’ all-round firepower

Danijones6 months ago07 mins

Lucknow Super Giants will have to bring their ‘A’ game forward to prevail against a dominant Kolkata Knight Riders when the two teams, marching towards IPL playoffs, clash in Lucknow on May 5. With an all-round win by 24 runs over Mumbai Indians propelling the second-placed KKR to 14 points — one more step closer to qualification — the pressure will be on KL Rahul’s LSG to find a way past the threat that Shreyas Iyer’s side poses. Lucknow Super Giants are placed just one rung below KKR at number three with 12 points from 10 matches with six wins and four defeats. With a rampant Sunrisers Hyderabad (12 points) hot on heir heels at fourth, followed by the dangerous Chennai Super Kings (10 points) and Delhi Capitals (10 points) on the points table, LSG will be under pressure to avoid getting into a mid-table battle as the race for the final-four has intensified. LSG were far from convincing in their previous assignment at Ekana Stadium here as they were made to work hard in a modest 145-run chase by Mumbai Indians, winning by just four wickets in the last over. Skipper Rahul and all-rounder Marcus Stoinis have been the key players for LSG and it remains to be seen if South Africa veteran Quinton de Kock is brought back in place of young Arshin Kulkarni, who opened the innings in the last game. Even though he has gone without a fifty since the first game, Nicholas Pooran has consistently notched up crucial scores but LSG’s overall finishing skills is under question following their struggles against Mumbai Indians. LSG seemed to have made heavy weather towards the end giving MI a real sniff by losing wickets in a flurry and completing their modest chase with some stutter. Ayush Badoni has had a subdued run in this IPL and the uncapped Indian player would be keen to shrug off the rustiness. LSG’s bowlers will also face a stern test with none of them making a real dent with individual brilliance in this IPL. LSG are also likely to be without express pacer Mayank Yadav. Having lost only three of their 11 matches so far, it has taken something out of the ordinary to stop KKR in their tracks. CSK used a spin-friendly surface to eke out a win in Chepauk, while RR’s all-round class helped them pip KKR in a high-scoring thriller. If anything, KKR’s bowling woes were exposed when Punjab Kings recorded IPL’s highest chase ever against them, but Iyer’s side has emerged strongly from that setback with two impressive wins. However, having trumped MI on a sluggish wicket which exposed their batting frailties, KKR will aim for a much improved performance with the bat. For the second time in this IPL, KKR batters struggled when the ball did not come on to the bat and they were forced to change gears in order to build a strong target. KKR slipped to 57 for five at one stage and ran the risk of being shot out for a paltry total, but Venkatesh Iyer (70) and Manish Pandey (42) came to the rescue with a fine 83-run stand. Iyer and Pandey were forced to soak pressure, curb their attacking game and look to farm the strike to build a recovery path for their side before the bowlers carried out a perfect job to secure a 24-run win. Teams (from): Lucknow Super Giants: Quinton de Kock, KL Rahul (c & wk), Deepak Hooda, Ayush Badoni, Marcus Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Krunal Pandya, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohsin Khan, Shamar Joseph, Yash Thakur, Manimaran Siddharth, Prerak Mankad, Arshad Khan, Krishnappa Gowtham, Amit Mishra, Kyle Mayers, Ashton Turner, Matt Henry, Naveen-ul-Haq, Devdutt Padikkal, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Mayank Yadav, Arshin Kulkarni. Kolkata Knight Riders: Shreyas Iyer (c), KS Bharat (wk), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Sherfane Rutherford, Manish Pandey, Andre Russell, Nitish Rana, Venkatesh Iyer, Anukul Roy, Ramandeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine, Vaibhav Arora, Chetan Sakariya, Harshit Rana, Suyash Sharma, Mitchell Starc, Dushmantha Chameera, Sakib Hussain, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Gus Atkinson, Allah Ghazanfar, Phil Salt. Match starts 7:30pm IST.

“Are Hardik Pandya, Tim David That Bad?”: Virender Sehwag Fumes At MI, Demands Serious Actions

Danijones6 months ago04 mins

Former India batter Virender Sehwag questioned Mumbai Indians (MI)’s tactics during the 24-run defeat to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their IPL 2024 match on Friday. Chasing a below-par 170, Mumbai lost wickets at regular intervals and were eventually bowled out for 145 off 18.5 overs at the Wankhede Stadium. While analysing the match, Sehwag said he was “baffled” with captain Hardik Pandya and Tim David arriving at No.7 and 8 in the lineup, respectively. Sehwag also posed a similar question for KKR after star all-rounder Andre Russell batted down the order. “KKR saved Andre Russell; he played only two balls. Mumbai Indians saved Hardik Pandya and Tim David. What did you achieve by doing that? There were many deliveries left, and they all got out. You could’ve come earlier, or maybe you could’ve finished the game earlier, too. I don’t know what happens to them when they chase… Hardik Pandya at seven and Tim David at 8. I just don’t understand what they did. Are these players that bad that they will get out if they come earlier?” Sehwag told Cricbuzz. Sehwag also slammed Hardik for batting down the order for MI, and pointed out how the all-rounder used to bat in the top order for Gujarat Titans. He added that the MI owners should take serious actions against the players and management. “Hardik Pandya batted at 4 consistently when he was the GT captain. What has happened here? It baffles me that the experienced players are coming so low. “I’m baffled by this. Management needs to take severe action on players and ask them what’s happening. Or, players should speak up about why their batting positions are changed. The captain, batting coach, bowling coach, and support staff are at fault here. Owners need to ask strict questions,” he added. Speaking on the loss, Hardik said after the game that his team failed to form any needed partnerships, and there are a lot of questions that will take time to answer, but he has not much to say at the moment. “I mean obviously in the batting inning, we couldn’t form partnerships and kept losing wickets, in T20s if you don’t form partnerships, it will cost you. Not much, there are a lot of questions that will take some time to answer but for now, not much to say,” Pandya said in a post-match presentation. Topics mentioned in this article

Like Dad, Like Daughter: Suhana Khan’s Post On KKR Ending 12-Year Jinx Has Our Heart

Danijones6 months ago03 mins

File photo of Suhana Khan.© Instagram Suhana Khan, daughter of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) co-owner Shah Rukh Khan, was over the moon after the team won their game against the Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Wankhede Stadium on Friday. Suhana came to support KKR in the absence of his father and Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, who was banned in 2012 by Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) from entering the venue. While his five-year ban was lifted by the MCA in 2015, Shah Rukh Khan was nowhere to be seen on Friday. Nonetheless, KKR registered a memorable win over MI by 24 runs, ending a 12-year wait for a victory over the hosts at the Wankhede Stadium. Taking to Instagram, an elated Suhana posted a story after KKR’s win. She shared a few hearts with the Wankhede big screen showing, “KKR win by 24 runs.” Her post has gone viral on social media. Coming back to the match, Venkatesh Iyer’s brilliant fighting half-century topped a similar effort by Suryakumar Yadav as Mitchell Star’s four-fer helped KKR beat MI by 24 runs. In a match dominated by the bowlers, Iyer rescued KKR from a precarious 57/5 by scoring a valiant 52-ball 70 to help them reach a lowly 169. KKR’s spin twins, Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy, then claimed identical hauls of 4-22 in their four overs each to reduce Mumbai Indians to 61/4. MI were soon down to 71/6 before Suryakumar Yadav launched a valiant rescue attempt, hauling them to 120 in the company of Tim David before Andre Russell (2-30) and Mitchell Starc shared five wickets between them to end Mumbai Indians’ fightback. Starc claimed three wickets in the 19th over, two of them off successive deliveries as MI were bowled out for 145. KKR consolidated their second spot in the IPL 2024 points table, while MI are all but out after suffering their eighth loss in 11 matches. (With IANS Inputs) Topics mentioned in this article

Gautam Gambhir’s Left Fuming As Rinku Singh Fails In 1st Match After T20 World Cup Snub. Video

Danijones6 months ago03 mins

Rinku Singh scored just nine runs in eight balls, despite a promising start.© X (Twitter) Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) batter Rinku Singh failed to impress on his first outing after being left out of India’s 15-man T20 World Cup squad. Rinku’s exclusion from the team has sparked a debate with fans and experts suggesting that the explosive batter should’ve been part of the 15-man squad. Rinku is one of the four travelling reserves for the tournament in the West Indies and USA. The 26-year-old, however, had a horror outing in his first IPL match after the unfortunate T20 World Cup snub. On Friday, during KKR’s game against the Mumbai Indians (MI), Rinku scored just nine runs in eight balls, despite a promising start where he hit Hardik Pandya for two boundaries. However, he was dismissed by Piyush Chawla in the veteran’s first ball of the match. Chawla deceived the youngster with a wrong’un, with Rinku chipping the ball straight back to him. Rinku’s dismissal, however, left KKR mentor Gautam Gambhir visibly frustrated in the dug out. Watch: Rinku Singh’s dismissal leaves Gautam Gambhir fuming https://t.co/r3JFmqLhmO — VEDANT BLANCO (@MrTrequartista7) May 4, 2024 Coming back to the match, Mitchell Starc picked up four wickets as a disciplined bowling performance helped KKR beat MI for the first time in 12 years at the Wankhede Stadium. Chasing a below-par 170, Mumbai lost wickets at regular intervals to be bowled out for 145 off 18.5 overs at the Wankhede Stadium. Suryakumar Yadav raised hopes with a 35-ball 56 but his dismissal in the 16th over tilted the scales in favour of Kolkata. Earlier, Kolkata lost five quick wickets including that of the prolific Phil Salt (five) and skipper Shreyas Iyer (six) after being put in to bat. Tottering at 57-5, Venkatesh Iyer (70) and impact sub Manish Pandey (42) steadied Kolkata with an 83-run stand and ensured a respectable total on the board. Iyer, who hit a century at the same ground last season, hit three sixes and six fours in his fighting 52-ball knock. (With AFP Inputs) Topics mentioned in this article

Mild back stiffness forced Rohit Sharma to play as impact sub in MI-KKR clash

Danijones6 months ago05 mins

KKR’s Coach Gautam Gambhir and MI’s Rohit Sharma during the practice session ahead of IPL game between KKR and Mumbai Indians at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday. | Photo Credit: EMMANUAL YOGINI India captain and Mumbai Indians opener Rohit Sharma was forced to play as an impact sub in the IPL clash against Kolkata Knight Riders due to a “mild back stiffness”, said leg-spinner Piyush Chawla. Playing as an impact sub, Rohit managed just 11 runs in 12 balls in the second innings during their 24-run loss against KKR, which has nearly put the five-time champions out of the IPL this year. “He just had a mild back stiffness so it was just a precautionary thing,” Chawla told the media after the match here at the Wankhede Stadium. Mumbai’s defeat was their eighth in 11 matches, essentially shutting the doors on the Hardik Pandya-led side and Chawla too conceded that it is only “pride” that they are left with to play for. “For the pride and the reputation, because sometimes when you enter on the field, you don’t think whether you are going to qualify or you are not going to qualify,” he said. “You have to play for your name and that’s what we are playing for,” he added. Chawla pointed MI’s inability to attain momentum at any stage in this IPL as the reason behind their poor performance. “You must have often heard about that T20 is all about momentum and just that we didn’t get that momentum going this season and it can happen to any team,” he said. “It’s not like it’s happening to us for the first time or any other team for the second time. It can happen to anyone and it’s just that that momentum was not our way.” The 35-year-old Chawla became IPL’s second leading wicket-taker when he went past Dwayne Bravo on Friday to take 184 wickets. “It has been a beautiful journey because IPL started 17 years back and at that time nobody gave that much preference to the spinners, but now if you see that in top few wicket takers in India, especially all the spinners, Ashwin, Yuzhi, myself (are there), so it’s a good feeling,” he said. Chawla also praised Manish Pandey for delivering in a pressure situation while playing his first game this season. Pandey (42) added 83 runs for the sixth wicket with Venkatesh Iyer (70) as KKR posted 169 allout in 19.5 overs. “It was a good partnership and credit has to go to them because they batted beautifully. Well, T20 is something in which experience plays a big role, (which is) what we saw today. “When Manish walked in, maybe if somebody walks in who must have played few games, he would have panicked that runs are not coming. “But he read the situation and the way he handled the situation because if you see in starting, he was hardly going at run a ball. But later on, he knew that he has to stand there with Venky.”

Irfan Pathan’s Epic Rant Goes Viral. Conclusion: “MI’s Story Ends Here”

Danijones6 months ago04 mins

Following Mumbai Indians’ (MI) loss to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan suggested that there is a lack of respect in the dressing room for captain Hardik Pandya. With eight defeats in 11 matches, Hardik has endured a disastrous first season in IPL as MI captain. Irfan, who has been critical of Hardik since the start of the season, once again questioned the tactics of the MI captain. He pointed out how Hardik gave the ball to Naman Dhir when KKR were tottering at 57/5. Irfan said that Hardik’s decision allowed KKR to rebuild their innings with the help of Venkatesh Iyer and Manish Pandey, who was playing his first game of the season. “Mumbai Indians’ story ends here. This team was so good on paper, but it wasn’t managed. The questions that were raised on Hardik Pandya’s captaincy were absolutely right. When you’ve restricted KKR to 57/5, you didn’t have to give Naman Dhir three successive overs. You had to bring your main bowlers, and you gave your sixth bowler three overs. Manish Pandey and Venkatesh Iyer posted a strong partnership. You could’ve bowled them out on 150 instead you let them score 170,” Irfan said in a viral video. Irfan Pathan exposes Hardik Pandya Captaincy – “Mumbai Indians solid team on paper not managed well by their captain again. This Complete team failure on this loss.” pic.twitter.com/oIdW97Chao — (@rushiii_12) May 3, 2024 Irfan further suggested that the MI players don’t respect Hardik as captain, which has further hampered the team this season. “Captaincy has a big impact in the game. Mumbai Indians don’t look like a united team, and management needs to consider this. Players need to respect and accept the captain, and we didn’t see that on-field. They have to improve in that aspect,” he added. The win helped KKR retain their second position in the table but now with 14 points to their credit from 10 games. Meanwhile, MI remained at the 9th spot with 6 points after playing 11 games. However, mathematically Mumbai Indians are still alive in the race to playoffs. They need to win their remaining three matches and hope for favourable results from other games to end at top 4. MI remaining games are against SRH, KKR and LSG on May 6, 11 and 17, respectively. Topics mentioned in this article

IPL 2024: Why Rohit Sharma played as an impact sub in Mumbai Indians-Kolkata Knight Riders clash | Cricket News

Danijones6 months ago05 mins

NEW DELHI: Leg-spinner Piyush Chawla stated that India captain and Mumbai Indians opener Rohit Sharma was compelled to play as an impact substitute in the IPL match against Kolkata Knight Riders because of a “mild back stiffness”.IPL ORANGE CAP | IPL PURPLE CAP | IPL POINTS TABLETheir 24-run defeat against KKR, in which Rohit was an impact substitute, saw him score just 11 runs in 12 balls in the second innings. This loss almost saw the five-time winners eliminated from the IPL this year.“He just had a mild back stiffness so it was just a precautionary thing,” Chawla told the media after the match here at the Wankhede Stadium.Mumbai’s eighth loss in 11 games has put an end to the Hardik Pandya-led team, and Chawla also acknowledged that their only remaining motivation is “pride”. “For the pride and the reputation, because sometimes when you enter on the field, you don’t think whether you are going to qualify or you are not going to qualify,” he said.“You have to play for your name and that’s what we are playing for,” he added.MI’s lack of momentum throughout this IPL season, according to Chawla, is the cause of their subpar play.“You must have often heard about that T20 is all about momentum and just that we didn’t get that momentum going this season and it can happen to any team,” he said. “It’s not like it’s happening to us for the first time or any other team for the second time. It can happen to anyone and it’s just that that momentum was not our way.”On Friday, the 35-year-old Chawla overtook Dwayne Bravo to claim 184 wickets, becoming him the second-highest wicket-taker in the IPL.“It has been a beautiful journey because IPL started 17 years back and at that time nobody gave that much preference to the spinners, but now if you see that in top few wicket takers in India, especially all the spinners, Ashwin, Yuzhi, myself (are there), so it’s a good feeling,” he said. In addition, Chawla commended Manish Pandey for his performance in his first game of the season despite being under pressure. As KKR scored 169 all out in 19.5 overs, Pandey (42) and Venkatesh Iyer (70) shared 83 runs for the sixth wicket.“It was a good partnership and credit has to go to them because they batted beautifully. Well, T20 is something in which experience plays a big role, (which is) what we saw today.“When Manish walked in, maybe if somebody walks in who must have played few games, he would have panicked that runs are not coming.“But he read the situation and the way he handled the situation because if you see in starting, he was hardly going at run a ball. But later on, he knew that he has to stand there with Venky.” (With PTI inputs)

Hardik Pandya Has “Lot Of Questions” With MI All But Out Of IPL, Puts Blame On…

Danijones6 months ago04 mins

All but out of play-off contention after eighth defeat in 11 games, Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya seemed as if he was groping in the dark for replies to all the unanswered questions hounding the five-time champions in yet another disastrous IPL season. Pandya was handed over the captaincy after the franchise removed national captain Rohit Sharma, something that the fans didn’t really embrace with the colourful Baroda all-rounder being booed every time he entered the pitch. “There are a lot of questions that will take time to answer. But for now, not much to say. Obviously, we couldn’t form partnerships and kept losing wickets. Bowlers did a fantastic job on this track,” Pandya said after his team failed to score 170, losing to KKR at home for the first time in 12 years. Pandya felt that it was better to bat late evening once dew set in but MI failed to capitalise. “The wicket got better if I’m not wrong. Dew came in the second innings. Will go through the game and see what we can do better,” he said. Pandya tried to put up a brave front as he spoke about fighting till the last match. “You keep fighting, that’s what I keep telling myself. It’s challenging, but you take the challenges.” His opposite number Shreyas Iyer was delighted that his team is on the cusp of a play-off berth. “We are (knocking at the door) at the moment. Lot of thinking would have gone behind that (had we lost today). Just got to know about the stat (of KKR not winning at Wankhede for 12 years)… ” The “Impact Player” rule did help KKR as Manish Pandey, who came in at the fall of the fifth wicket, contributed 42 priceless runs. “This Impact Player rule specifically helped us in this game. Manish has being eyeing an opportunity from the first game. We got to a commendable total. I told the boys that if we have got here, we can defend it,” Iyer said. He was all praise for the performances from spin twins Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine, both of whom returning with identical figures of 2 for 22. “Spinners were unreal, absolutely spot on in executing their lines and lengths as discussed in team meetings. Kudos to them,” Iyer said. (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.) Topics mentioned in this article

IPL-17: MI vs KKR | Venkatesh and Pandey’s partnership proves the difference as Knight Riders edge Mumbai Indians

Danijones6 months ago06 mins

Dominate the middle overs and win the match. That seems to be the flavour of the Indian Premier League this season. The same was on display at the Wankhede Stadium on Friday as the Kolkata Knight Riders clinched a convincing win despite having its back to the wall early on in the game. As a result, in a game influenced heavily by bowling units with all 20 wickets falling on the night, it was the 83-run association between Venkatesh Iyer and Manish Pandey (Impact Player) in the middle overs of the first innings that turned out to be the difference between Knight Riders and host Mumbai Indians. Had it not been for the duo’s partnership, Knight Riders – reeling at 57 for five – would have struggled to put on the 169 runs it did before being bowled out in the last over. Suryakumar Yadav then tried his best to take a cue from Venkatesh but thanks to KKR’s spin duo of Varun Chakaravarthy and Sunil Narine controlling the middle overs, Suryakumar perished even before MI got close to the finish line. As a result, KKR emerged as a clear second in the standings while MI’s campaign is all but over after its eighth loss of the season. Venkatesh carried on from his sterling hundred at the same venue last season to notch up his fourth fifty-plus score in five outings against MI. He found an ally in veteran Pandey who kept the scoreboard flowing. In the nine-over period from the seventh till the 15th over, KKR added 75 runs for the loss of Rinku Singh, who top-edged back to Piyush Chawla off the first ball after the PowerPlay. MI lost three wickets while adding 73 runs in the same period. The additional wickets proved to be the difference. Once Suryakumar’s skier off Andre Russell was pouched by Phil Salt, the game was all but over. Just like Nuwan Thushara in the PowerPlay and Jasprit Bumrah at the death in the first essay, Mitchell Starc targeted the stumps to finish the game off in a hurry. SCOREBOARD KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS Phil Salt c Tilak b Thushara 5 (3b, 1×4), Sunil Narine b Hardik 8 (8b, 1×6), Angkrish Raghuvanshi c Suryakumar b Thushara 13 (6b, 2×6), Shreyas Iyer c David b Thushara 6 (4b, 1×4), Venkatesh Iyer b Bumrah 70 (52b, 6×4, 3×6), Rinku Singh c & b Chawla 9 (8b, 2×4), Manish Pandey (Impact Player in place of Raghuvanshi) c sub (Brevis) b Hardik 42 (31b, 2×4, 2×6), Andre Russell (run out) 7 (2b, 1×6), Ramandeep Singh c Coetzee b Bumrah 2 (4b), Mitchell Starc b Bumrah 0 (2b), Vaibhav Arora (not out) 0; Extras (lb-1, nb-1, w-5): 7; Total (in 19.5 overs): 169. FALL OF WICKETS 1-7 (Salt, 0.4 overs), 2-22 (Raghuvanshi, 2.2), 3-28 (Shreyas, 2.6), 4-43 (Narine, 4.2), 5-57 (Rinku, 6.1), 6-140 (Pandey, 16.2), 7-153 (Russell, 16.6), 8-155 (Ramandeep, 17.4), 9-155 (Starc, 17.6). MUMBAI INDIANS BOWLING Thushara 4-0-42-3, Bumrah 3.5-0-18-3, Coetzee 2-0-24-0, Hardik 4-0-44-2, Dhir 3-0-25-0, Chawla 3-0-15-1. MUMBAI INDIANS Ishan Kishan b Starc 13 (7b, 1×4, 1×6), Rohit Sharma (Impact Player in place of Thushara) c Pandey b Narine 11 (12b, 1×6), Naman Dhir b Varun 11 (11b, 2×4), Suryakumar Yadav c Salt b Russell 56 (35b, 6×4, 2×6), Tilak Varma c Narine b Varun 4 (6b), Nehal Wadhera b Narine 6 (11b, 1×4), Hardik Pandya c Pandey b Russell 1 (3b), Tim David c Shreyas b Starc 24 (20b, 1×4, 1×6), Gerald Coetzee b Starc 8 (7b, 1×6), Piyush Chawla c Narine b Starc 0 (1b), Jasprit Bumrah (not out) 1 (1b); Extras (lb-3, nb-1, w-6): 10; Total (in 18.5 overs): 145. FALL OF WICKETS 1-16 (Kishan, 1.4), 2-38 (Dhir, 4.1), 3-46 (Rohit, 5.5), 4-61 (Tilak, 8.4), 5-70 (Wadhera, 10.5), 6-71 (Hardik, 11.2), 7-120 (Suryakumar, 15.3), 8-144 (David, 18.2), 9-144 (Chawla, 18.3). KNIGHT RIDERS BOWLING Arora 3-0-35-0, Starc 3.5-0-33-4, Varun 4-0-22-2, Narine 4-0-22-2, Russell 4-0-30-2. Toss: Mumbai Indians. PoM: Venkatesh. KKR won by 24 runs. MI 119 for six MI was 119/6 in 15 overs with Suryakumar (56) and David (9) batting. Kishan (13), Rohit (11), Dhir (11), Tilak (4), Wadhera (6), and Hardik (1) were dismissed

Gautam Gambhir Names Only Batsman He Has “Feared”. It’s Not Gayle, De Villiers, Dhoni Or Kohli

Danijones6 months ago04 mins

As Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) look to take on Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, the mentor of the 2-time champions, Gautam Gambhir, opened up on his respect for Rohit Sharma. While Gambhir has come up against some of the finest batters in the game during his active days as a cricketer, especially as the KKR skipper, there is no batter he has “feared” the most than Rohit Sharma. In a candid chat with the IPL broadcaster, Gambhir revealed that he often had to come up with multiple plans to stop Rohit from scoring runs. Gambhir, during his cricketing career, had to plan for marquee batters like AB de Villiers, Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, etc. But, it’s Rohit against whom he had the most difficult times. “The only batsman that I’ve feared is Rohit Sharma. The only batter who has given me sleepless nights… No Chris Gayle, no AB de Villiers, only Rohit. I always knew I had to have a Plan A, a Plan B and probably a Plan C as well, because if Rohit is in, I don’t think anything can control him,” Gambhir told Star Sports. Game recognises game “The only batsman I feared in IPL was @ImRo45“, @GautamGambhir praises the Indian captain’s batting prowess! Will he lead #TeamIndia to glory in the #T20WorldCup2024? | #MIvKKR | TODAY, 6:30 PM | #IPLOnStar pic.twitter.com/eEav5GbKG5 — Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) May 3, 2024 “I’ve never planned for any other batter in the IPL except Rohit Sharma. There has been times where I had seen visuals and I said, ‘Fair enough. Plan A is fine’. But for Rohit, one night before I used to think, if this doesn’t work I have to get the other plan,” he further added. In IPL 2024, Sunil Narine has emerged as a consistent performer for KKR, both with the bat and the ball. While admitting that Narine vs Rohit is a battle that he has his eyes on, Gambhir also asserted that he needs more than just the 4 overs from the West Indian to keep Rohit in check. “If Sunil bowls his four over, then who is going to bowl the next 16? And if I finish off Sunil early and Rohit is there, he can hit 30 off one over. Probably, he was the only batter I feared as a captain,” he added. Topics mentioned in this article