Kolkata Knight Riders’ Indian Premier League campaign came to an end this season on a sour note last week. In their last match of the season, Kolkata faced a one-run defeat at the hands of Lucknow Super Giants. Following their last match of the season, Kolkata team management decided to gift a specially curated jersey to its former skipper and current Lucknow mentor Gautam Gambhir. Kolkata skipper Nitish Rana handed over the jersey to the former India cricketer. Gambhir shared a photo of himself along with Rana with a tweet that read, “So proud of you Nitish. Always wear the jersey with pride”.
So proud of u Nitish. Always wear the jersey with pride! @NitishRana_27 pic.twitter.com/5hN8xW0VXJ— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) May 22, 2023
Resharing Gambhir’s tweet, Rana wrote, “Thank you Gautam Gambhir bhaiya. You and this jersey has taught me a lot over the years, and I am forever grateful for that.”
Thank you @GautamGambhir bhaiya. You and this jersey has taught me a lot over the years and I am forever grateful for that 💜 https://t.co/WkBx0cz4wM— Nitish Rana (@NitishRana_27) May 22, 2023
After leading Kolkata Knight Riders to two IPL titles, Gautam Gambhir will now be aiming to lift the trophy for Lucknow Super Giants this time, albeit in a new role.
Kolkata Knight Riders and Lucknow Super Giants have so far faced off thrice in the history of IPL but the two-time champions never ended up on the winning side. Their latest defeat occurred in this season’s IPL. Batting first, Lucknow posted a formidable total of 176. Nicholas Pooran emerged as his side’s highest scorer with 58.
Kolkata Knight Riders batter Rinku Singh came up with a sublime knock of unbeaten 67 off 33 balls but his valiant knock proved to be futile. Kolkata eventually fell short by just one run. The one-run victory was enough for Krunal Pandya’s men to qualify for the IPL 2023 playoffs. Pooran was adjudged Man of the Match for his blistering knock. “I knew I had to go as deep as possible. I knew that once the spinners were bowling, they’d give me some bad balls and I was ready to capitalise on this small ground,” Pooran was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
Lucknow Super Giants find themselves in the IPL 2023 playoffs along with defending champions Gujarat Titans, Rohit Sharma’s Mumbai Indians and MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings. In the Eliminator, Lucknow will take on Mumbai on Wednesday. Hardik Pandya-led Gujarat will face four-time champions Chennai in the first Qualifier on Tuesday.