Ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season, Gautam Gambhir has joined Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) as a mentor. It will be interesting to see if he can produce similar results for the franchise as a mentor as he did in the capacity of a captain.
Notably, Gambhir led KKR to two IPL titles in 2012 and 2014. He was associated with Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) as a mentor in the last couple of seasons.
With less than three weeks remaining for the IPL 2024, Gambhir has said that the only recipe for success in the Indian Premier League is to focus solely on cricket.
According to the former India opener, IPL is the closest to international cricket in standards and that it is the toughest league in the world.
"I made it very clear on Day 1 that IPL for me, is serious cricket. It's not about Bollywood, it's not about you, it's not about after party and stuff. It's about going out there and playing competitive cricket and that's the reason why I feel is the toughest league in the world because it is proper cricket," Gambhir said on Star Sports.
"It is probably closest to international cricket as compared to any other league and if you want to be known as a successful franchise, you should be able to deliver on the cricket field," he added.
The former KKR captain hailed the fans of Kolkata, calling them passionate and loyal. Gambhir also mentioned that the fans went through a lot in the first three years due to off field drama and the players owed them some success.
"I think there are very passionate fans. We need to be honest to them. We need to try and probably bring that happiness on their smiles because I've always believed I think the most loyal fans have been fans from Kolkata because they've gone through a lot in the first three years of the IPL," the KKR mentor said.
"Obviously it was the most high profile team as well. But I've always been a believer that ultimately it's not about glamour. It's about what we do on the cricket fields is all that matters and KKR should not be known for off field activities. They should be known for what we deliver on the cricket field," he concluded.
The IPL 2024 season is slated to get underway on March 22 with the CSK versus RCB clash at Chepauk. KKR will open their campaign against SRH at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata on March 23.
