Gautam Gambhir always wears his emotions on his sleeves.
Riding a wave of excitement, the then Kolkata Knight Riders mentor delivered a passionate and stirring speech on his first day at Eden Gardens in 2024. Reminding the players that they were representing a “successful and proud” franchise, he appealed to them to carry that attitude around the field.
The agenda was set and the team went on to win their third IPL title. Are the Knight Riders lacking the same fervour and desire since Gambhir’s departure? Is the much-needed spark missing in their armoury?
The unavailability of players through injuries hardly made an impact on Gambhir’s plans. In his own words, there was no difference between “senior/junior” or “domestic/international” players and it reflected in their focus and collective mission.
As KKR struggle to find their feet at the start of IPL 2026, Gambhir’s words seem to resonate through their ranks. The loss to Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede highlighted what was feared at the start: the lack of bowling firepower.
Their second-line of pacers lacked the sting and how much the greenish tinge on the Eden wicket will help them remains to be seen. An explosive Sunrisers Hyderabad top-order will be ready to exploit any frailty and pile on the misery on Thursday.
Varun Chakravarthy’s struggles since the T20 World Cup has made it look murkier. The mystery spinner’s disastrous figures in the last four matches of the showpiece event — 15-0-178-4 — shows no definite ending. Rohit Sharma and Ryan Rickelton took him apart and his economy of two runs a ball is alarming.
“He’s obviously accomplished a lot over the past year, which has increased expectations... Everyone always knew Varun Chakravarthy is a terrific bowler, but the expectation attached has come from the kind of performances he’s given Team India,” KKR coach Abhishek Nayar said on Wednesday.
“We don’t want him to feel like he can’t do it for us. We all believe he can.”
Sunil Narine fared slightly better though Ajinkya Rahane didn’t dare to make him complete his full quota on Sunday. But they will need their spin pair to work magic at the Eden to recover the lost glory.
The KKR captain also played his part as his post-Powerplay batting was largely responsible for the team finishing at a below-par 220 against Mumbai Indians.
While he smashed 36 off 18 in the Powerplay, the boundaries dried up as 31 came off the next 22. The sluggish middle overs caused a sudden dip
in the strike-rate and there was very little chance to stage a recovery.
But all is not lost. The lessons learnt at the start could help KKR regroup quickly and reinvent the magic touch. Eden will hope for another fiery Finn Allen innings, Rinku Singh’s finishing touches and the spin duo’s wizadry to return to their winning ways.