“It was a dog-fight for Gautam Gambhir,” KKR CEO Venky Mysore reveals how KKR outbid others

Gautam Gambhir led KKR to two IPL titles in 2012 and 2014.

IN 2011, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) franchise decided to go in a new direction with their squad and took the big decision of letting fan favorite Sourav Ganguly go after three dismal years in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

KKR had struggled in the first three years of IPL, finishing at 6th position in the first season, finishing last in the 2nd season, and then ending at the 6th position in the third season, with Ganguly captaining them in 2008 and 2010.

“It was tough”, KKR CEO Venky Mysore recalls not retaining Sourav Ganguly in 2011

Instead, they went into the auction ahead of IPL 2011 with a plan and focused on bringing in Gautam Gambhir as their captain, which they did for USD 2.4 million, making him the most expensive player of that auction.

Gambhir repaid the faith put in him by leading the franchise to two IPL titles in 2012 and 2014. He also helped them rope in match-winners into the team such as Sunil Narine and Robin Uthappa, apart from building a team with a winning attitude.

Talking about how Gambhir was bought into the KKR franchise, CEO Venky Mysore spilled the beans on the latest episode of ‘The RK Show’.

“Obviously, I didn’t know Gautam Gambhir at all, before we picked him. There were a lot of unforgettable moments in KKR’s history as far as I am concerned. The first auction that I was going to in 2011, we had made our plans. With me, one of the things I always drive is that we are not always fixated on one plan. We have plan A, plan B, Plan C because that is the capricious nature of the auction,” he said.

“I thought we were very well prepared but still we were quite nervous. It was my first auction, and I was sitting there. The owners took a call that this is your baby, your project, you run it, your plan, you go and execute. That has been the thing with KKR ever since I have been involved,” he added.

“Jay and Juhi - they come and sit at the table. But they don’t get involved with making any decisions at the table. We brief them completely, we have discussions and they have their own ideas. Ultimately, they say it is your call. You guys have thought it through more than we can,” Mysore explained.

Vijay Dahiya recalls how Gautam Gambhir insisted on KKR signing up Sunil Narine in 2012

“I was sitting there, and I was hoping, and I was saying my prayers and my heart was beating. I was seeing the most familiar faces of other teams and their ownerships and they were all occupying their respective tables. Then I was saying to myself, this is like a warm-up... like a batsman takes a few knock-downs when they come to bat. So, I was thinking to let a few names come to the auctions that we are not interested in and see what happens.”

“Lo and behold, the first name in 2011 auctions Gautam Gambhir - the very first name that came in. It was unbelievable. We were quite determined. We had budgets and circuit break-up pricing in our strategies. My instinct said that it was the right thing to do. Even though it exceeded our circuit break-up because the Kochi team was equally motivated. There was a dog-fight for that. The rest is history,” Mysore signed off.

Dinesh Karthik was named the new captain of the KKR team after Gautam Gambhir left the franchise ahead of IPL 2018.