Kolkata Knight Riders are going to face Delhi Capitals at Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium on Wednesday (April 3).

It will be the first clash between these two franchises after the return of Gautam Gambhir, the former Delhi captain as a mentor of the KKR squad.

IPL 2024: Gambhir's Journey through IPL

Gautam Gambhir started his IPL career with Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) in 2008 and became the second-highest scorer of that season. In 2011 he was picked by the KKR franchise and appointed as the skipper of the team. The Knights, with Gambhir at the helm, had an extraordinary run for a few seasons. In 2012 he led his team to its first IPL title and repeated the same feat in 2014. In 2018, he went back to the Delhi-based franchise. Before joining KKR as a mentor this season, he played a similar role in the Lucknow Super Giants.

How Gautam Gambhir can Impact KKR Fortunes in IPL 2024

In his time as captain of the Knights many players, including domestic and overseas, had flourished and reached the heights where they are now. Sunil Narine and Andre Russel became what they are now under his leadership. The same can be said for Suryakumar Yadav and Kuldeep Yadav, both were polished during that time. The present KKR squad is full of promising talents like Rinku Singh, Nitish Rana, and Venkatesh Iyer who are yet to be utilised properly. Now, that Gambhir is at the helm, the problem is expected to be solved.

Eden Gardens, the Knight's home ground had grown into a fortress during his time, as Gambhir made it a routine for winning low-scoring thrillers with the help of spinners on a dry turner pitch. The same thing can be expected in the upcoming matches at the Eden Gardens.

Gambhir preferred Sunil Narine as an opener in the powerplay overs and we saw some match-winning knocks from the spinner in the past. In the recent past, Narine was back to the lower middle order but now with Gambhir's return the Caribbean allrounder returned as an opener and already played a crucial innings of 47 runs in 22 balls against RCB.

In the third match of KKR against DC, the Knights will try their best to continue their winning streak and for the former Delhite, it will be another step to the task of helping KKR to bring back its golden era.