On Wednesday, April 3, Delhi Capitals and Kolkata Knight Riders faced off in match 16 of IPL 2024 at the Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy Stadium in Visakhapatnam. Both sides were looking to continue their good form, coming off wins in their previous matches.
KKR chose to bat first on a good batting pitch, and were given a rapid start by Phil Salt and Sunil Narine. The West Indian smashed 85 off 39 balls. Along with Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Andre Russell, he powered the visitors to 272/7, the second-highest IPL totals ever. In reply, DC were eventually bowled out for 166.
Has anybody won the IPL as captain and coach? Will Gautam Gambhir script history with KKR in IPL 2024?
The win was KKR's third consecutive victory this season, and marked the first time in the franchise's history that they had managed to win their first three matches of the season. The two-time champions now sit at the top of the points table, and are looking dangerous.
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Ahead of the 2024 season, KKR made a change to their coaching staff as they added former title-winning captain Gautam Gambhir to the dressing room as a mentor. After this start, Gambhir has the opportunity to win the IPL both as a player and a member of staff, a unique achievement.
Three people have managed to win the IPL as a player and head coach. Shane Warne was captain and head coach of Rajasthan Royals in 2008. Darren Lehmann won the IPL in 2008 as a player for RR, before lifting the trophy in 2009 as Deccan Chargers' head coach. In 2013, Ricky Ponting won the IPL as a Mumbai Indians player before winning as the team's head coach in 2015.
It is unclear what exactly Gambhir's role as a mentor is within the KKR setup, but he does work in close coordination with head coach Chandrakant Pandit, who himself is looking to become only the second Indian head coach after Ashish Nehra (GT, 2022) to win the IPL title.
