KKR vs RCB: Gautam Gambhir Points Out Difference Between the Two IPL Heavyweights

Gautam Gambhir said that the KKR based franchise backed their players to boost their confidence while on the other hand RCB management did the opposite.

Former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir pointed out the difference between approaches of Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore. The IPL franchises have announced their list of retained players ahead of the mini-auction which is expected to take place in February. Gambhir, who has captained KKR in the past, said that the Kolkata based franchise backed their players to boost their confidence while on the other hand RCB management did the opposite.

KKR have released Chris Green, Harry Gurney, M Siddharth, Nikhil Naik, Siddhesh Lad and Tom Banton ahead of the 2021 season, most of the players amongst list didn’t play many matches for them in last season. While RCB decided to part ways with 10 players including Chris Morris, Shivam Dube, Aaron Finch, Isuru Udana and Moeen Ali.

Gambhir said despite a poor performance in last season KKR retained senior batsman Dinesh Karthik for next season.

“Dinesh Karthik had a very bad season last year. He was also removed from the captaincy, but despite that if you have retained him, it shows that the franchise is backing you. And because of that your confidence increases, and that is the difference between KKR and RCB,” Gambhir told Star Sports network

Karthik had a rough patch during IPL 2020 in the UAE as he managed to score 169 runs in 14 games at an average of 14.08. He was also removed from the captaincy mid-season as Eoin Morgan took the charge of the team.

Gambhir said KKR kept confidence in their players despite not getting qualified for play-offs last season and retained the core.

“I am in agreement with all those franchisees who have not released too many players. It shows you have kept confidence in your players. This is called releasing just the excess baggage. So, it is not that surprising. The core is still there, they have not done too many changes,” he added.

“They might probably take one or two players and might have their eyes on them, if they can get them. If you see, the playing XI is as it is. Probably all the players they have released were not part of their first playing-XI.”

The former Indian opener further talked about three-time IPL champions Chennai Super Kings and said they did a similar thing as KKR to retain more of their players.

“Chennai have also done a similar thing; they have also not released too many players apart from the two players who were very expensive,” he signed off.

Gambhir has won the IPL trophy twice both of which came during his captaincy stint with KKR. While, RCB have yet to win a single trophy in IPL history.