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Six years after he last led the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Gautam Gambhir will return to the franchise in the capacity of a mentor ahead of IPL 2024.
The two-time IPL-winning skipper heralded the most successful period for the franchise since he was snapped up in 2011 as KKR pressed the reset button after three forgettable seasons. Gambhir's astute tactics saw the Knights make the playoffs five times in seven years under his leadership, making two finals in the process, with them winning both in 2012 and 2014.
The franchise has looked lost since parting ways with Gambhir, however, notwithstanding their runner-up finish in 2021. The former left-handed opener makes a shift from the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) where he served as the mentor for the team's first two seasons.
The IPL 2024 player auction is set to take place in Dubai on December 19, with the player retention deadline set for Sunday, November 26. Gambhir certainly has his plate full already as KKR look to better their seventh-place finish earlier this year.
In this regard, here's a look at three things he will have to change as he returns to his beloved Knight Riders setup ahead of IPL 2024:
#1 Maximize KKR's home ground advantage
During his seven-year captaincy tenure at KKR, Gambhir happened to witness the pitch at the Eden Gardens undergoing a makeover. Yet, it never came in the way of the team combination as he always had bowlers suited for the venue to be able to call upon.
It was down to his own philosophy of packing his team with quality options to win games and eventually, the tournament. KKR seems to have lost the plot in that regard though and remain reliant on spin, even though the track at the Eden Gardens hasn't assisted the same in the last few seasons.
Nitish Rana, who led the Knight Riders in the last IPL season, called out the pitches in Kolkata not offering the team the kind of home advantage they would have wanted. If the surface at the just-concluded men's ODI World Cup was anything to go by though, we might be seeing the Eden Gardens revert to the times prior to 2015.
It's up to the team to decide what kind of pitches they want to play on though and pick their team accordingly. The two factors haven't fallen in sync in recent years and having mastered strategizing in the T20 format for KKR as captain, Gambhir will want to look into this matter and ensure that the planning ahead of the IPL 2024 auction keeps home advantage in mind.
#2 Inconsistencies in selection policy
An unsettled team often tends to chop and change its combination. It was no different with KKR in the last two seasons, but the reverse also holds true - a team will wear a settled look only if its players' roles are defined clearly and they are given enough games to flourish.
That was the hallmark of the Knights under Gambhir during his captaincy days but the fact that the franchise used six different opening combinations in 2022 and eight of them in 2023 is a clear reflection of the cacophony they invited for themselves with their selection policy.
The absence of a reliable Indian wicketkeeper-batter has played its part but if a middle-order comprising Shreyas Iyer, Rana, Rinku Singh, and Andre Russell is to find itself at ease, they must zero in on their opening combination. And this ought to be right up Gambhir's agenda as they look to set the record straight ahead of IPL 2024.
#3 Address the Narine-Russell conundrum
KKR have always centered their strategy around the presence of their two Caribbean stalwarts Sunil Narine and Andre Russell as the central nucleus. But there's no shying away from the fact that both have been pale shadows of their usual selves for long now.
Narine remains economical as a bowler but for an overseas player who has been a sure starter, he hasn't returned enough wickets while he hasn't been effective with the bat either, having once aced the role of the team's pinch-hitter. As for Russell, his fitness has always been a matter of concern while his frequent attempt to attack his way out even in the most perilous circumstances has backfired more often than not.
The numbers back these claims as well - Russell averaged just 20.63 with the bat in IPL 2023 while his seven wickets came at an economy rate of 11.34. Narine batted ten times in the preceding season for a mere 21 runs aside from returning just 11 wickets in 14 games at an economy rate of just under eight.
All good things do come to an end at some stage. There's every chance Narine and Russell don the purple and gold of KKR one more time though, especially with Gambhir, who has worked with them in the past, back in the mix. But a clear-cut role definition for the two players is important not only to extract their best but to ensure that the rest of the combination also takes good shape.
Can Gautam Gambhir bring glory back to KKR in his new role as mentor? Have your say in the comments section below!
