Aakash Chopra, who has observed Gautam Gambhir from close quarters for over a couple of decades now, believes he won’t mind spending Kolkata Knight Riders‘ entire purse to form a formidable squad during Indian Premier League 2024 auction later this month.
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Taking to his official YouTube channel, the former Indian opener was touching upon Knight Riders’ auction strategy. For the unversed, Gambhir, who led KKR to both their IPL titles thus far, has joined the franchise as a mentor after serving Lucknow Super Giants in the same capacity for a couple of seasons.
“Gautam Gambhir kabhi kanjoosi nahin karte. Woh kehte hain aakhiri rupaiya tak kharch kar dete hain [Gautam Gambhir is not miserly. He believes in spending even the last penny remaining],” Chopra said.
Having retained 13 players for a total of INR 67.3 crore, Kolkata will enter IPL 2024 auction with a purse of INR 32.7 crore. While top IPL 2023 performers namely Rinku Singh, Nitish Rana, Venkatesh Iyer, Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine and Suyash Sharma are among their list of retained players, tried and tested campaigners such as Shardul Thakur, Tim Southee and Lockie Ferguson have no option but to allure a buyer again.
As Chopra mentioned in the above mentioned video, KKR would be eyeing A-list fast bowlers this time round. Since the Eden Gardens tends to assist spinners and the franchise already has a host of good ones, buying pacers will be of prime importance for them. Hence, don’t be surprised if Gambhir pulls off a coup akin to the one had done with regard to Morne Morkel during IPL 2016 auction.
How Gautam Gambhir Applied Similar Tactics For LSG In IPL 2022 Auction
Gambhir, who makes it a point to be present during IPL auctions (even during his playing days), hadn’t saved a single penny out of LSG’s INR 90 crore budget during IPL 2022 mega auction.
Having drafted KL Rahul, Marcus Stoinis and Ravi Bishnoi for a combined amount of INR 30.2 crore before the bidding process, Gambhir saved the remaining INR 59.8 crore to acquire the services of 18 players across a couple of days.
Gambhir, who bid aggressively for the players he wanted, spent INR 10 crore on Indian pacer Avesh Khan, INR 8.75 crore on former West Indian captain Jason Holder and INR 8.25 crore on Indian all-rounder Krunal Pandya. Gambhir, however, also successfully executed a daylight robbery in the form of spending only INR 90 lakh on Krishnappa Gowtham.
Gambhir, who had played for KKR between 2011-2017, wanted co-owner Shah Rukh Khan to spend entire budget on Narine, an unknown commodity at the time, during IPL 2012 auction. Taking into consideration how Narine has transformed a pivotal part of Knight Riders’ global family now, the owners would be hoping for Gambhir to make similar purchases in Dubai as well.
