Gautam Gambhir
Venkatesh Iyer has opened up about Gautam Gambhir’s influence on Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) dressing room during their title-winning Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 campaign, explaining how the former captain’s presence helped establish a culture where players were always ready to attack.
Gambhir, who led KKR to IPL titles in 2012 and 2014, returned to the franchise in 2024 as a mentor.
He just sat there, while the rest of us – me, Shreyas, Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Ramandeep, and Andre Russell – sat inside; all five of us would be padded up and ready to go from the second over itself,” Iyer said during a podcast with Aakash Chopra. Iyer said there was a sense of competition among the batters, with everyone eager to get an opportunity. The mentor’s presence meant the batters were not worried about failure, but they also knew that the standards expected of them were high, according to him.
His involvement proved important as the team went on to win another championship. He has since moved on from the franchise and is currently serving as India’s head coach. Recalling the atmosphere in the KKR dugout, Iyer explained that the team’s batting order was always prepared to take the field, even when the openers were still at the crease. “Our two openers, Narine and Salt, would go out to bat. Angkrish would sit there with his pads on. However, Sunil Narine and Phil Salt often continued batting for several overs, keeping the waiting players on their toes. For Iyer, this was a different kind of dressing-room environment, with every batter looking forward to getting an opportunity to take the attack to the opposition. Iyer attributed the team’s approach to the confidence Gambhir gave the players. Iyer clarified that Gambhir did not need to introduce any formal rules to establish this atmosphere. His presence and expectations were enough to influence how the players approached their game.