"It's okay, people want TRP, fair enough"- Gambhir hits back at broadcasters for showing old interview before KKR vs RCB
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) mentor Gautam Gambhir was not pleased with the way broadcasters hyped up his team's match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). He clarified that he respected RCB, and he did not have any personal rivalry with the team.
During an exclusive chat with Sportskeeda Cricket on Match Ki Baat, Gambhir highlighted that the broadcasters aired one of his old interviews before the IPL 2024 match between KKR and RCB. In that clip, the current KKR mentor said that he wanted to defeat RCB even in his dreams.
"Actually, I had said that many years ago. But that clip has been shown so many times. It's okay, people want TRP, fair enough. They can have their TRP. They can have whatever share of PR, whatever they want," Gambhir said.
The KKR mentor then mentioned that his passion and energy are the same in every match irrespective of the opponent.
"In that clip, I had said they (RCB) have quality and I wanted to beat them. Even today, I want to beat them, but it is not just RCB, honestly. It does not matter against which team I am playing, I want to beat every opposition. My passion is the same," he added.
Gambhir also spoke about how all cricketers take the field to win every match, not caring much about which team was against them.
"Every opposition would like to beat us as well. You tell me one thing, has any cricketer ever said that he does not want to beat a particular team. It is a very funny thing. Has any player ever mentioned that I want to beat the other 8 teams but not this team?" the KKR mentor asked.
"I don't have any personal rivalry with any team - be it Delhi, CSK or RCB"- Gautam Gambhir
Further clarifying his statement about defeating RCB in his dreams, Gambhir said that he wanted to defeat the other eight teams in his dreams as well.
"I want to defeat all 9 teams. All 9 teams want to defeat us. In the end, there will be only 1 winner, but to give such a twist to it that I want to beat them in my dreams. I want to beat every team even in my dreams. If our next match is against Gujarat, then I want to beat Gujarat in my dream," the KKR mentor said via the aforementioned source.
Lastly, he urged the promoters to stop relying on such tactics to hype up a game and made it clear that he did not have any personal rivalry with any of the IPL franchises.
"To be honest, I don't have any personal rivalry with any team - be it Delhi, CSK or RCB. For me, I think that twist should finish because I feel that, and I have said that in that interview as well, RCB is a quality side and I respect that," he concluded.
KKR beat RCB twice during the league stage of IPL 2024. If RCB qualify for the playoffs, fans will likely witness another battle between the two sides this season.