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The Shreyas Iyer-led Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) kickstarted their IPL 2024 campaign with a close four-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. The team which posted 208 runs on the board after being invited to bat first, courtesy Andre Russell’s blistering knock of unbeaten 64, it was Harshit Rana’s last-over heroics that helped them finish on the other side of the line.
After KKR pulled off a close last ball win, former India cricketer and legend Sunil Gavaskar also lauded the West Indies’ hard-hitter. But with the credits of Russell’s muscle-power performance going towards KKR mentor Gautam Gambhir, the 1983 World Cup winner took a moment to interfere and put a hold, seeing it was just the first game for the franchise.
“Let’s not go ahead of ourselves. He (Andre Russell) batted well, and it’s got nothing to do with anyone coming into there (KKR). If he doesn’t do well in the next few innings, you will blame Gautam Gambhir? Let’s take it a little bit easy,” Gavaskar said while speaking on Star Sports.
He also put up a question redirecting it towards Gautam Gambhir adding that would he be blamed if the West Indian fails to showcase his prowess going forward in the tournament.
The former Indian cricketer-turned commentator also highlighted SRH’s performance, adding that their bowlers failed to execute their plans. “When you saw someone like Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who was practising his yorkers so well, bowled leg-deliveries (in the match) which was everything in the arc for Andre Russell,” he added.
As the tournament progresses, while the Pat Cummins-led SRH will host Mumbai Indians on March 27 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad, the KKR will travel to Bengaluru to face Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on March 29.
