After months of anticipation and wrong judgments by fans and pundits, the defending Champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) named Ajinkya Rahane as their captain. Shreyas Iyer, who led the side to victory last year, was neither retained nor repurchased during the mega-auction in Saudi Arabia. This meant the KKR management had to find an equal replacement, which, many thought, would be Venkatesh Iyer, KKR’s most expensive buy this season. However, the franchise went with Rahane instead to lead the team, which has nearly the same core as last time, albeit with a new captain and coaching staff.
Gautam Gambhir mentored the side with his assistant coaches Abhishek Nayar and Ryan ten Doeschate, but the trio has since been promoted to similar roles with the Indian national team. Dwayne Bravo, known for his exceptional T20 skills, was earlier brought in to replace Gambhir in the capacity. While Rahane might be a perfect replacement for Iyer, fiery Bravo is hardly a like-for-like substitute for calm and collected Gautam Gambhir, and that is why KKR’s new mentor will do things his way.
“I think it’s going to be disrespectful of me not to try and find out some of the good things he [Gambhir] did last season. But also the core of the team is here, and that was the duty of the coach and myself to go back into the auction and try our best to get back as much as the same squad of players from the championship-winning team, and we were able to get that.”
“But I think GG [Gambhir] has his style and I have my style, and we both have been successful in our own ways. I definitely messaged him a few times and stuff, so yeah… But again, I will be leaning a lot on the guys here because they had a successful formula, and it’s to follow that.”
Whatever style of play KKR’s coaching staff comes up with, Ajinkya Rahane has full trust in Bravo’s expertise in the most flamboyant format of the game. And rightly so. Bravo has gathered an insane amount of success over the years in T20 cricket, both on-field and in the backroom. He also has the second-highest number of caps in T20 format. In him, Rahane and KKR see the perfect ingredient for their winning recipe.
“It is really exciting to work with him,” Ajinkya Rahane said of his team mentor Bravo. “Obviously, he’s been the [second] most capped T20 player in history, so he brings a lot of experience to the table. He’s a hard-working tactician from what I’ve heard of him. I’ve always seen him go around the boundary line, and [he] keeps talking to the bowlers. So I’m really excited to play under him.
“And see, nothing can beat experience. He’s played so many games, [and] he’s won so many games for West Indies and the franchises that he’s played for. So, obviously, for us, working with him, I expect that I’ll get to learn a lot with him both individually as well as in a team.”
Needless to say, both Bravo and Rahane have a point to prove, the latter more so. Rahane wasn’t part of KKR’s initial plans, as he went unsold in the first round of the mega-auction before being picked up later for a mere INR 1.5 crore. It seemed a fair price for him, considering his underwhelming season with CSK last year. While he may not have a flashy captaincy résumé in franchise cricket, he did lead Mumbai to the Ranji Trophy semi-finals this year. And in cricket, few things provide a greater edge than a captain riding a winning streak.
