‘There was a dog-fight’ – How KKR signed Gautam Gambhir
Kolkata Knight Riders CEO Venky Mysore, recalling the 2011 IPL auction, has revealed how the franchise managed to sign Gautam Gambhir after a ‘dogfight’ which changed their fortune for good.
After finishing sixth, eighth and sixth respectively in the first three seasons of the IPL, the KKR squad underwent a massive overhaul with Gambhir’s acquisition being one of the most crucial steps, which eventually resulted in two IPL titles in the next four seasons under the opener’s leadership.
Mysore, speaking on The RK Show, recalled KKR’s bidding battle with Kochi Tuskers for Gambhir, which they went on to win. He claimed that his “instinct said that it was the right thing to do” and so the franchise went all the way to complete his signing, making Gambhir the costliest IPL buy back then.
“To be perfectly honest, it was not that difficult for me to make that decision.”
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“Obviously, I didn’t know Gautam Gambhir at all, before we picked him,” he said. “There were a lot of dramatic moments in KKR’s history as far as I am concerned. The first auction that I was going to in 2011, we had made our plans. With me, one of the things I always drive is that we are not always fixated on one plan. We have plan A, plan B, plan C because of the capricious nature of the auctions.
“I thought we were very well prepared but still we were quite nervous. It was my first auction, and I was sitting there. The owners took a call that this is your baby, your project, you run it, your plan, you go and execute, we are not going to come to the auction. That has been the pattern with KKR ever since I have been involved.
“Lo and behold, the first name in the 2011 auctions – Gautam Gambhir – the very first name that came in. It was unbelievable. We were quite determined. We had our budget but my instinct said that it was the right thing to do. Even though it exceeded our circuit break-up because the Kochi team was equally motivated. There was a dog-fight for that. The rest is history.”
