IPL 2024: Gautam Gambhir bids farewell to Lucknow Super Giants, joins Kolkata Knight Riders as mentor

Gautam Gambhir Joins KKR: Former India opener Gautam Gambhir ended his association with Lucknow Super Giants as its mentor on Wednesday (November 22, 2023) and announced that he was returning to Kolkata Knight Riders, a team he led to the IPL title twice. Kolkata Knight Riders also confirmed the development through a tweet. The cricketer-tuned-commentator announced his farewell from the Lucknow team on Wednesday through a post on 'X'.

"As I announce the end of my impeccable journey with Lucknow Super Giants, I am filled with love and immense gratitude towards all the players, coaches, support staff and every individual who has made this journey memorable. I would like to thank Dr. Sanjiv Goenka for his inspiring leadership while creating this remarkable franchise and for his tremendous support to all my endeavours. I'm sure that the team will do wonders in the future and will make every LSG fan proud. All the very best LSG brigade!" 

LSG Brigade! pic.twitter.com/xfG3YBu6l4

— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) November 22, 2023

In another post, Gambhir confirmed that he was joining Kolkata Knight Riders.

I’m back. I’m hungry. I’m No.23. Ami KKR @KKRiders pic.twitter.com/KDRneHmzN4

— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) November 22, 2023

Welcome home, mentor @GautamGambhir! 

Full story: https://t.co/K9wduztfHg#AmiKKR pic.twitter.com/inOX9HFtTT

— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) November 22, 2023

KKR CEO Venky Mysore also confirmed through a tweet that Gambhir was joining the Kolkata team as a mentor.

Great memories! More to build. ⁦@GautamGambhir⁩ ⁦@KKRiders⁩ pic.twitter.com/miwrvbLOFi

— Venky Mysore (@VenkyMysore) November 22, 2023

Gambhir has had a good stint with Lucknow team.

He joined the team as a mentor in the team's debut year in 2022.

Lucknow stunned the big teams in the tournament, reaching finals in its very first season.

The team continued playing well in this season also, finishing third in the points table.

Lucknow, however, could not make title clash despite a successful campaign in the league stage. 

As far as Gambhir's stint with KKR is concerned, he first joined the Kolkata team in 2011 as a captain.

In 2012, he led the team to its first IPL title with a win over Chennai Super Kings in the title clash.

Two years later, Gambhir powered Kolkata to its second and last IPL title, when the team got the better of Kings XI Punjab in the final.

Gambhir stayed with Kolkata for four more years and quit the team in 2018.

He contested the Lok Sabha election from the East Delhi seat in 2019 on the BJP ticket and won. He joined the

Lucknow team in December 2021 as a mentor, and after two years in the team, he is retuning to the team where he achieved the IPL glory twice.