'No Gayle, No De Villiers... He Has Given Me Sleepless Nights': Gautam Gambhir Reveals Batter He 'Feared the Most'

Gautam Gambhir’s return as a mentor has done wonders for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. The former skipper, who had led the franchise to two title wins, has been working in tandem with the coaches – Chandrakant Pandit and Abhishek Nayar –to bring the best out of the team this season. As a result, the Shreyas Iyer-led side is comfortably placed second on the points table with six wins in nine matches.

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KKR’s next destination is Mumbai, a venue where they haven’t won since 2012. The 5-time champions are currently struggling at the 9^th spot on the table with 6 points. However, they have a terrific track record against Kolkata at Wankhede.

Ahead of the mouth-watering clash, KKR mentor Gambhir recalled his playing days and picked one batter who gave him ‘sleepless nights’. Speaking with Star Sports, the former Kolkata skipper said he always had to come prepared with multiple plans for counter Rohit Sharma.

“The only batsman that I’ve feared is Rohit Sharma. The only batter who has given me sleepless nights… No Chris Gayle, no AB de Villiers, only Rohit. I always knew I had to have a Plan A, a Plan B and probably a Plan C as well, because if Rohit is in, I don’t think anything can control him,” Gambhir told Star Sports.

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“I’ve never planned for any other batter in the IPL except Rohit Sharma. There has been times where I had seen visuals and I said, ‘Fair enough. Plan A is fine’. But for Rohit, one night before I used to think, if this doesn’t work I have to get the other plan.

“If Sunil bowls his four over, then who is going to bowl the next 16? And if I finish off Sunil early and Rohit is there, he can hit 30 off one over. Probably, he was the only batter I feared as a captain,” he added.

It will be interesting to see what KKR come up with to counter Rohit Sharma on Friday evening. Also, the spotlight will be on Rinku Singh, whose exclusion from India’s main squad for the T20 World Cup, has triggered an outpouring of sympathy for the 26-year-old. The power-hitter has not got enough game time this season which probably tilted the scales against him.