Gautam Gambhir, "Can I Bring My Girlfriend To IPL?"

On Sunday in Chennai, KKR triumphed over SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the IPL 2024 final.

Gautam Gambhir, the coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), has lavished praise on star all-arounder Sunil Narine, who contributed to the team's victory in the Indian Premier League (IPL) last week. Narine was declared the IPL 2024's "Most Valuable Player" after KKR overcame SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the championship game on Sunday. Narine found his mojo again under Gambhir's tutelage, amassing 488 runs and claiming 17 wickets.

In a recent conversation, Gambhir talked candidly about his friendship with Narine and recounted the latter's early KKR camp experiences. When KKR won the IPL in 2012 and 2014, respectively, Gambhir was their captain, and Narine was a key component of both victories.

"Me and Narine are similar characters, and so are our emotions. I still remember that when Narine first came into the IPL in 2012, it was in Jaipur, and we were going for practice, and I told him to come join us for lunch. He was so shy that he did not say a single word during lunch, and the first question that he eventually asked was, 'Can I bring my girlfriend to the IPL?," Gambhir told Sportskeeda in an interview.

Gambhir called the all-round player a brother and implied that he and Narine have a lot in common.

"He was so quiet that first season, but now, we can talk about anything. He is like a brother to me. I don't see him as a friend, I don't see him as a teammate, I see him as a brother. If I need him or he needs me, I think we are just one call away, that is the sort of relationship that we have built. We do not get excited much, we do not show too many emotions, we are not flamboyant, we just do the job and come back," he added. Gambhir insisted that Narine has always been KKR's 'MVP'.

"What can I say about him? Even if he didn't win the 'most valuable player award' he would have still been the MVP. You are looking at his stats but he was KKR's MVP even before the season got underway. The world has seen his talent as an all-rounder and I'm sure that Narine still has plenty to give to KKR and world cricket," he further explained.