Nitish Rana publicly shares screenshot of Gautam Gambhir’s WhatsApp

When Kolkata Knight Riders won the IPL in 2012 and then again in 2014, it was believed that they would be the team to challenge Chennai Super Kings’ dominance. With two titles in three seasons, KKR were supposed to be the next big thing in the IPL. But instead, they became just another team as CSK and Mumbai Indians raced to five trophies each, while KKR languished at two. The closest they came was in IPL 2021, when they reached the final but lost to CSK in the summit clash. The following two seasons – 2022 and 2023 – were forgettable as KKR failed to reach the Playoffs.

Something had to give. A change of fortunes was needed, which Gautam Gambhir brought to the franchise when he reunited with the team he took to great heights after 10 years. With Gambhir back – this time as a mentor – and under the leadership of Shreyas Iyer and the coaching of Chandrakant Pandit, KKR looked like the team of old. Aggressive, determined and with a point to prove. And his dream return capped off with the team winning a third IPL title, ending his, KKR and Shah Rukh Khan’s agonisingly long wait

Nitish Rana, among many others, was over the moon when in September of last year, Gambhir’s return to KKR was confirmed. After KKR defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by eight wickets in Sunday’s IPL 2024 final, Rana had briefly touched upon his chat with Gambhir, but on Tuesday, the former Knight Riders captain took a screenshot of GG’s text and shared it across his social media handles for everyone to consume.