Not Virat Kohli! Gautam Gambhir reveals the only player he feared in IPL was Rohit Sharma

Former Indian batter and 2-time IPL winning captain with the Kolkata Knight Riders Gautam Gambhir who will now be seen in the dugout of KKR as the mentor, revealed that former Mumbai Indians captain and 6-time IPL winner Rohit Sharma was the only batter to give him sleepless nights or nightmares as a matter of fact.

In a recent interview with the official IPL Television broadcaster Star Sports, Gambhir stated that when he was captaining KKR from 2011 to 2017, no other batter would make him re-think so much about his plans a night before facing Rohit Sharma and MI, claiming that the Indian captain could change the complexion of a game in no time.

Both Rohit and Gambhir are two of the most successful captains in the Indian Premier League circuit which started way back in 2008. While Rohit Sharma won the IPL in only the 2nd edition (2009) under former Australian wicket-keeper batsman Adam Gilchrist’s Deccan Chargers, which is present-day Sunrisers Hyderabad, Gambhir had to wait for 4 years to claim the coveted title.

Gambhir began his IPL journey with hometown outfit Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) before the Shahrukh Khan-owned KKR franchise acquired him during the 2011 IPL mega auction. Only a year later under his captaincy, the Knight Riders won the IPL for the first time in 2012, a year before MI claimed their maiden title in 2013, which was also the first time Rohit won the richest prize of franchise cricket as the skipper.

Then in 2014, KKR became champions yet again by defeating the Punjab Kings in the finale which took place at the M. Chinnaswamy stadium, and then in 2015, Rohit Sharma’s MI defeated MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings in the final to become 2-time champions.

KKR and MI shared 4 titles between them from 2012-2015 and while the latter team claimed another 3 in 2017, 2019, and 2020, the Kolkata-based franchise is awaiting to add a third title to their cabinet. The closest KKR reached to complete the treble was in 2021 when CSK became 4-time winners in the final which took place in Dubai.

Their hopes of adding an elusive 3rd title have been renewed after Gambhir rejoined as mentor but it will be interesting to see how Mumbai Indians’ and Rohit Sharma’s 2024 season pans out. With Hardik Pandya being appointed as the skipper for the 2024 edition, MI will be entering the new season under a new captain for the first time since 2013.

“Not Chris Gayle, not AB de Villiers only Rohit Sharma” – Gautam Gambhir

In that interview given to Star Sports, Gautam Gambhir stated that none of the most dangerous batters like Chris Gayle or Ab de Villiers would give him as much headache as his former India teammate Rohit Sharma.

“The only player who’s given me sleepless nights. Not Chris Gayle, not AB de Villiers, only Rohit Sharma has given me sleepless nights in the IPL. With Rohit, I knew that I had to have Plan A, Plan B, and probably Plan C as well because if Rohit is in, I don’t think anyone can control him,” Gautam Gambhir said via Star Sports. 

“There have been times when I’ve seen the visuals, where I said fair enough, plan A is fine. But with Rohit Sharma, probably one night before, I used to think if this doesn’t work, I have to get this. If this doesn’t work, I have to get the other plan,” Gambhir concluded.