KOLKATA:
Gautam Gambhir
finds himself in a situation that makes him grin. He had mentored Lucknow Super Giants till last season with a fair amount of success, a period which included three wins over Kolkata Knight Riders.
On Sunday, he will be there in the KKR dugout, hoping to mentor the purple brigade to their first win over LSG.
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Is the boot on the other foot now?
"Just a new day," Gambhir quipped on match eve.
"I might know them well, but they know me pretty well too. In fact everyone knows each other quite well and plans accordingly. It doesn’t make a difference (that I am on the other side now). I had planned for KKR while I had been with LSG and now I am planning on behalf of KKR. It’s not as if I’m going to plan something different for them. Eventually, the team that plays better wins, and not the team that plans better."
Gambhir perhaps knows KKR better than anyone else, having led the team to two IPL titles. There are players like
Sunil Narine
, whom Gambhir had groomed during his stint at KKR and who are flourishing now.
"He (Narine) was very happy to see me back. We have spent so much time together. Sometimes relationships are more about the emotion which you carry for each other than the time spent. Happy to see him doing well."
Gambhir remains as aggressive as ever and will not count Mayank Yadav’s absence as a relief. "We would always want our opponents to play with their best team," he said.
Neither is he worried that
Mitchell Starc
might buckle under pressure. "I know what impact he can have," he said.
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