Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) mentor Gautam Gambhir weighed in on Royal Challengers Bengaluru's (RCB) loss to Rajasthan Royals in the IPL 2024 Eliminator at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Wednesday (May 22)

Despite facing adversity, RCB defied the odds and secured their place in the playoffs. They achieved the remarkable feat of becoming the first team to qualify for the playoffs after winning only one of their initial eight matches in the season.

While RCB were on a six-match winning streak, they were outplayed by RR in the all-important Eliminator. The Faf du Plessis-led side lost the match by four wickets and an over to spare after posting 172/8 on the board.

Speaking to Sportskeeda, Gambhir played down the talks of momentum in cricket, stating that Rajasthan's superior performance on the day was the deciding factor.

"Even when I was the captain, I had said that momentum is a word that we just use too much. What matters is with what intensity you take the field on the day. The team that plays fearlessly and with courage is the one that ends up with the advantage because neither the ball nor the bat knows the momentum," Gambhir said.

Gambhir highlighted the importance of mindset and consistency, especially before crucial knockout fixtures. He asked the players to treat every game with equal importance, maintaining intensity right through the league phase.

Talking about the competitiveness of the IPL, Gambhir claimed that there is very little separating the 10 teams in the tournament. He highlighted the league's difficulty and compared it with global tournaments.

"There isn't much difference between the team that finished No.1 and the team that finished No.10. If there's a five-match series between the two teams, I won't be surprised if the No.10 team beats the No.1 team comfortably. That's why the IPL is the toughest league in the world and at the level of any T20 World Cup. We all get the same purse and all teams formed are good," Gambhir remarked.