As the Bombay Indians Get ready to receive the Riders of the Knights of Calcutta Later tonight, an old video of KKR mentor Gautam Gambhir resurfaced on the internet.
During his time as captain of the Knight Riders (2011-2017), Gautam Gambhir was once asked about that player who gives him nightmares or sleepless nights. Gambhir, who by then had won 2 IPL titles, was quick to name Mumbai Indians’ five-time IPL-winning captain – the one and only Rohit Sharma.
Gautam Gambhir said Rohit Sharma was much more dangerous than Gayle and de Villiers
While speaking to Star Sports a couple of years ago, Gautam Gambhir claimed that Rohit Sharma was not only responsible for giving him sleepless nights. That Rohit was actually the only Indian Premier League batsman he truly feared.
The game recognizes the game 🙌🏽
“The only batsman I feared in the IPL was @ImRo45“, @GautamGambhir Praise the Indian captain’s batting prowess! 😳
Will he lead? #TeamIndia glory in the #T20WorldCup2024?
📺 | #MIvKKR | TODAY, 18:30 | #IPLOnStar pic.twitter.com/eEav5GbKG5
– Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) May 3, 2024
Hearing this from someone like Gautam Gambhir, who was always willing to engage in aggressive competition on the cricket field, is quite strange. Gambhir rarely avoids staring and openly insulting opposing players. In the IPL, his most famous fight was against none other than his own statesman Virat Kohli, but that too has died down now.
During his days as an international player, Gautam Gambhir never stopped fighting for his team, be it with the bat or with his mouth. One such incident that stands out was the abusive altercation he had with legendary Pakistani all-rounder Shahid Afridi.
So for him to say that he fears Rohit Sharma is a big achievement for the current Indian captain.
In his own words, this is what Gambhir had said: “Look, in my entire IPL career as captain, if there is a single player who has given me sleepless nights, then it is Rohit Sharma. The only batsman I have feared in IPL is Rohit Sharma. The only player who has left me nights without sleep”. “.
“Not Chris Gayle or AB de Villiers, nobody, just Rohit Sharma because I knew I had to have Plan A, Plan B probably also Plan C because if Rohit is in, I don’t think anyone can control it. “I have never planned to have to no other batsman except Rohit Sharma.” – Gautam Gambhir concluded.
It will be interesting to see how well Gautam Gambhir could have prepared his KKR team to fight against Rohit Sharma and the Mumbai Indians. But one thing is for sure that all the fans are ready to watch another IPL thriller tonight.
MI Vs KKR: Head to Head Stats
The head-to-head statistics between Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians suggest that the five-time champions are miles ahead of the two-time champions. Out of 32 meetings between them, MI has emerged victorious 23 times while KKR has only won 9 matches against them.
During their clash last season, MI won by 5 wickets. In the 2022 season, Shreyas Iyer’s team scored double wins against MI and it remains to be seen how things develop between them this time.