IPL 2025: Missing the thrill factor which Gambhir brought to KKR, says Harshit Rana

KKR won IPL 2024 title with Gambhir, their former two-time trophy-winning captain, being the side’s mentor. Later in July, he left the franchise to become India’s head coach and Dwayne Bravo took over as KKR’s mentor.

KKR, currently at seventh place in points table via three wins, five losses and an abandoned game, recently welcomed back Abhishek Nayar, who was removed as India's assistant coach. "All the support staff is basically the same and even Nayar bhai is back. But yes there is a thrill factor that I miss a little (due to Gambhir’s absence) - speaking just for myself, not anyone else. But it's nothing like that.”

"I wasn't talking about anything personal. But you also know, he (Gambhir) has an aura in the way he carries the team forward. I was just talking about that. But all the things are same, Chandu (Chandrakant Pandit, head coach) sir, Nayar bhai, Bravo. We are getting the kind of environment we want.”

“There have been changes of course since (Nayar) returned, because he has a very smart mind. He reads the game very well. The Indian core of our team, he knows them very well. He only has helped develop them over many years. So, it helps us that he is back and it feels good," said Rana in the pre-match press conference on Monday.

Rana, born and brought up in New Delhi, is KKR's joint-highest wicket-taker in IPL 2025 with 11 wickets in nine appearances. Despite this, Rana admitted that he is still not satisfied with his performances so far and aims to put in better showings in remaining matches in the competition.

“I am not that much happy with my performance. I am not getting what I want. So I hope that in the next five games, I will go and do better in this season. But I have to focus on the performances. Wickets via reverse swing have become very important because now we can use saliva. So it helps us in death bowling and yes, it is important.”

Rana signed off by hoping the KKR bowling line-up adapts faster to the slow and gripping conditions on offer at the stadium. “The expectation is the same as in Kotla, the bounce is usually low. Even yesterday, if you see, the RCB bowlers used the slower ones and it gripped very well. The aim is that the sooner we read the pitch, the better it will be for us.”