"Gautam Gambhir's leadership, coaching and mentorship have liberated this team" - Aakash Chopra on KKR's positives heading into Qualifier 1 vs SRH

Aakash Chopra has noted that the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have gelled together as a unit in IPL 2024. He credited their mentor Gautam Gambhir for extracting the best out of every player.

KKR will face the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Qualifier 1 in Ahmedabad on Tuesday, May 21. While the winner of the game will qualify for the final in Chennai on Sunday, May 26, the loser will face the winner of the Eliminator in Qualifier 2 at the same venue two days earlier.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra picked Gambhir's mentorship as one of the positives for the Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2024.

"This team has played very well as a unit. Everyone has very good clarity about their roles. Gautam Gambhir's leadership, coaching and mentorship have liberated this team. It has brought the best out of every player, whether it is Sunil Narine or Andre Russell," he elaborated (3:30).

Reflecting on KKR's batting, the former India opener pointed out that Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh and Venkatesh Iyer have been terrific.

"Sunil Narine has been unstoppable. Andre Russell has been absolutely outstanding. Ramandeep Singh is beautiful, how well he is batting, whenever he bats, he does well. Venkatesh Iyer has also played a few very good knocks," Chopra said.

With 461 runs at a strike rate of 182.93 in 12 innings, Narine is KKR's top run-getter in IPL 2024. Venkatesh, Russell and Ramandeep have delivered the goods in crunch moments.

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"Harshit Rana is the best uncapped Indian fast bowler" - Aakash Chopra on KKR's bowling

Harshit Rana is KKR's second-highest wicket-taker in IPL 2024. [P/C: iplt20.com]

Aakash Chopra pointed out that Harshit Rana and Varun Chakaravarthy, apart from Sunil Narine, have been the positives in the bowling department for the Kolkata Knight Riders.

"In bowling, Harshit Rana is my favorite bowler. Harshit Rana is the best uncapped Indian fast bowler according to me. Varun Chakaravarthy's stature has grown so much, the way he has bowled and the number of times he has picked up wickets. This ground is slightly big as well. The ball might also get stuck a little here since we have reached almost the end of the tournament," he explained (3:10).

The reputed commentator feels Andre Russell could be a threat with both ball and bat at the Narendra Modi Stadium.

"Andre Russell's bowling - be slightly wary of him because the side boundaries are big and bouncers work at this ground. When they played against this team last time in Kolkata, SRH couldn't win despite Klaasen's good knock, and there also Andre Russell performed well. He scored a half-century," Chopra noted.

Chakaravarthy (18) and Harshit (16) are KKR's top two wicket-takers in IPL 2024. Narine and Russell have accounted for 15 dismissals apiece, with Mitchell Starc (12) being the two-time champions' other bowler to have taken more than 10 wickets.