KKR was not able to break the maze of 7 for the last two seasons, the story changed with the arrival of Gambhir

Kolkata Knight Riders became the first team to reach the playoffs of the Indian Premier League 2024. On Saturday, in the 60th match of IPL 2024, KKR, captained by Shreyas Iyer, defeated Mumbai Indians and secured their place in the last four. What changed in the team which was not even close to the playoffs in the last two seasons that it became the first team to qualify for the playoffs this season?

Gautam Gambhir, who led Kolkata Knight Riders to victory twice as captain, came back, but this time he was handed the mentorship. Beyond this, Sunil Narine, who had been struggling to score runs for a number of years, began opening again, giving the team a strong start and helping it win a lot of games. His team made it to the playoffs three times in a row under Gautam Gambhir's guidance. He spent two seasons as an employee of the Lucknow Supergiants prior to this, and both times the team advanced to the next round.

Gambhir comes on the field with an aggressive strategy and this is the biggest change seen in the Kolkata camp from the very first match. KKR's openers are included in the list of top 10 batsmen who have scored the most runs this season. In bowling, Kolkata Warriors have written a different story. 4 out of the top 10 bowlers are from Kolkata only. Varun Chakraborty, Harshit Rana, Sunil Narine, and Andre Russell together have taken 64 wickets this season.

Gambhir entered the field this season to play aggressive cricket from the very first match and the team scored more than 200 in the very first match. Kolkata defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore, Mumbai Indians, Lucknow Supergiants, and Delhi Capitals twice each this season. The team also broke the cycle of 7 that had been going on for the last two seasons. Kolkata Knight Riders were ranked 7th in the 2022 and 2023 seasons. With the arrival of Gambhir, the story of the team changed and the team has qualified for the last four for the first time.