Gautam Gambhir is behind the transformation of KKR in IPL 2024, Harshit Rana told how. cricket news

Young fast bowler Harshit Rana feels Kolkata Knight Riders are reaping the rewards by following the winning pattern set by two-time IPL winner and current mentor Gautam Gambhir as he extended his sensational performance to top the IPL points table. Have continued. Gambhir led KKR to the IPL title twice during his tenure from 2011 to 2017 and the team qualified for the playoffs five times. He also took KKR to the final of the now defunct Champions League T20 in 2014.

However, in the last seven years, KKR has been able to reach the playoffs only twice.

Gambhir’s return to the KKR camp as a mentor this year changed things as the Kolkata-based franchise topped the table with 16 points after a 98-run dominance over Lucknow Super Giants – 8th win in 11 matches – on Sunday night. .

“Not just this match, this whole season we have been very much focused on the style of cricket that Gautam Gambhir wants us to play. He has a lot of knowledge of how to swing the game in our favor and This helps us a lot in the middle,” Rana said during the press conference.

“Like today, he gave the bowlers free rein to decide the length of their bowling depending on the wicket and not try too many things,” he said.

Rana (3/24 in 3.1 overs) played a key role in the win by taking three wickets while defending the target of 235 runs.

“KKR read the wicket very well. In the areas where we had to bowl, we hit the right spots,” Rana said.

IPL’s biggest player Mitchell Starc has proved expensive this season, but Rana said that the team management is not at all worried about his economy rate and has confidence in the Australian speedstar.

“We didn’t care at all how expensive Mitchell Starc has been in IPL 2024. They have full confidence in him and he won us the last game and we don’t have any doubts about him.

“He has a huge influence on young players, he has a huge wealth of knowledge,” Rana said.

Rana said that his dream is to play for India and he is focusing on his performance.

“My aim is to play for India, but whichever franchise I play for, I try to give my best on match day. I will be selected only on the basis of my performances and performances,” Rana said.

We made our own plans but everything happened according to Naren: Naveen

It was another brilliant half-century from Sunil Narine (81 off 39) that helped KKR post a mammoth score of 235 for six and LSG fast bowler Naveen Ul Haq admitted that his chances against the star West Indian all-rounder All plans failed.

“I thought he played really well. We had a plan to bowl bouncers and yorkers and mix it up and not be predictable against him. We did that but to be honest he played a brilliant innings,” he said.

“It wasn’t like he was slogging and getting everything over the top edge or slicing the ball or anything. He was middleing it properly and that’s been the case since the start of the season.

“He’s weaving it in. Everything’s going his way. So yeah, it was a great innings from him.” The Afghan seamer said that LSG could have performed better with the bat but they cannot dwell too much on the defeat as they need to focus on the next game.

“Of all the matches we have played in Lucknow, I think it was the best wicket to bat on. We did not do the job chasing the target that we did – say in the game at Chepauk, where the target was very big. Naveen Said, it was not bad or anything, there was nothing for the bowlers in it.

“There’s always pressure on whatever score you’re chasing. Every team has bad days and we can’t concentrate on that, we have to move on.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)