Former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) batter Venkatesh Iyer has opened up on the former team mentor Gautam Gambhir’s influence on the franchise’s dressing room during their title-winning campaign in IPL 2024.
Speaking on a podcast with former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra, Iyer recalled how Gambhir created an environment for every player to contribute, adding that multiple players of the batting line-up used to pad up even before the innings from the second over.
“Sunil Narine and Phil Salt are opening, Angkrish Raghuvanshi is padded up, Shreyas Iyer is padded up, Nitish Rana is padded up, I’m padded up, Rinku Singh is padded up, Ramandeep Singh is padded up, Andre Russell is padded up from the second over,” Iyer said.
“There was this competition; anyone could go in at any moment, boss. We stayed ready, like literally. I, of course, saw it from my own perspective, but looking at them, they were like lions ready to go: ‘Just send us in, we’ll go and…’ And touch wood, Salt and Narine wouldn’t get out, they wouldn’t get out for a long time,” he added.
According to Iyer, Gambhir set high standards and expected nothing short of excellence from everyone in the team. The former KKR mentor encouraged players to take ownership, remain actively involved and constantly seek ways to improve, irrespective of whether they were part of the playing XI.
Iyer further recalled his conversations with Gambhir during gym sessions, which often went beyond individual performances. Gambhir would urge him to think about ways to make the team better while encouraging him to share his opinions and provide honest feedback.
“He would tell me that you are a senior player in the team. You have to think about how the team can improve. You have to be brave enough to give your feedback, tell us what you feel and point out what can be done better,” Iyer concluded.
