IPL 2024: KKR bowling coach Bharat Arun reveals mentor Gautam Gambhir's role behind Sunil Narine's success

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) bowling coach Bharat Arun has revealed that it was mentor Gautam Gambhir who decided to send Sunil Narine to open the batting this season. Narine was outstanding for KKR, scoring 488 runs in 15 games - the most for them in the 2024 season.

KKR eventually went on to win the title on Sunday (May 26) as they beat SRH by eight wickets in a one-sided final. Arun revealed after the match that Gambhir had decided to send Narine to open.

"He has brought a totally different dimension to our batting this year and it was Gautam who insisted that Sunny open and what Sunny (Narine) did was outstanding," said Arun after KKR won their third title.

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Knight Riders had previously won the title in 2012 and 2014 and Gautam Gambhir was their skipper. The former India batter returned to KKR ahead of this season as mentor and the side won their third title in the franchise history.

The tone was set by KKR's Mitchell Starc early after he dismissed SRH's Abhishek Sharma in the first over of the match. Arun praised the Australian - the costliest buy in IPL history at about $3 million - and said that his presence boosted confidence of other young players.

"Mitch coming into the team boosted the confidence of the other youngsters. He has been one of the best bowlers in world cricket and he has been in such situations before, it's about understanding Indian conditions and once he did that, it is magic all over," noted Arun.

As for the match, SRH's batting couldn't get going at all as they succumbed to 113 - the lowest total by a team in IPL final in the history of the league.

KKR made light work of the chase despite losing Narine in the second over itself. Venkatesh Iyer, who scored unbeaten 51, added 91 runs for the second with Rahmanullah Gurbaz as KKR achieved the win in 11th over.