Nitish Rana on Tuesday shared Gautam Gambhir’s message after confirming his KKR return in September 2023. (X)
Gautam Gambhir’s return to the Kolkata Knight Riders has been regarded as one of the major factors in the rekindling of the Knights in the IPL 2024 season.
A decade after guiding the team as captain to their second IPL title, team mentor Gambhir was credited significantly as KKR ended their trophy drought by beating SunRisers Hyderabad in the final in Chennai on Sunday.
During his playing days in the IPL, Gambhir had emerged as one of the most successful captains in the league alongside MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma, delivering Kolkata with two titles in three years between 2012-14. Returning to KRR after spending two years as the Lucknow Super Giants mentor, Gambhir’s presence was highlighted by several Kolkata players after the final.
KKR batter Nitish Rana on Tuesday revealed the chat he had had with Gambhir when he was confirmed to return to the franchise in September 2023. Taking to social media, Rana shared a WhatsApp screenshot from Gambhir responding to his congratulatory text in a post captioned: ‘In this era of Mamba Mentality, we’re soon all going to embrace the GG Mentality too.’
In this era of Mamba Mentality, we’re soon all going to embrace the GG Mentality too. #manifestation #ggmentality pic.twitter.com/SAj3XmUeHx
— Nitish Rana (@NitishRana_27) May 28, 2024
“Thanks Nitish for this message. This means a lot. Let’s create something special. There is no better feeling in sport [than] to stand on a podium and win a trophy. Let’s experience that,” Gambhir’s message read.
During the post-match interactions on Sunday night, Rana had revealed a portion of his message to his former Delhi teammate. “When GG bhaiyya was signed as a mentor, I had congratulated him on WhatsApp and I still remember it clearly. I had written a lot, including telling him that I was happy to see him, and he told me ‘You and all of us would be happier when we stand on that podium and hold the trophy’. Today is the day when it has come true. I will never forget that message,” Rana told the broadcasters.
Rana, who featured in only two matches this season for KKR due to an injury, made his First-Class debut under Gambhir in 2015. The 30-year-old Rana had led KKR in the absence of regular skipper Shreyas Iyer last season and has been a part of the KKR franchise since 2018.
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