Kolkata Knight Riders

"I had butterflies in my stomach from the 17th over onwards! Honestly, I felt anything could happen in the last over," confessed Iyer.

Reviving the fortunes of a struggling team is familiar territory for Gambhir. He took charge of KKR during the fourth season of the IPL in 2011, steering them to the playoffs after the team failed to make an impact in the initial three years. Subsequently, between 2012 and 2014, KKR clinched two championships under his leadership.

In a statement released by the IPL, it was revealed that Roy opted out of the forthcoming edition due to personal reasons, paving the way for KKR to secure Salt as his substitute. Roy had joined KKR in IPL 2023 as a replacement for the injured Shreyas Iyer and the unavailable Shakib Al Hasan.

Chopra anticipates a substantial deal for sidelined South African bowler Gerald Coetzee and highlights uncapped all-rounder Shahrukh Khan, India's Shardul Thakur, and New Zealand's Daryl Mitchell as promising prospects.

Iyer's return follows a successful comeback, contributing significantly to India's T20I series win against Australia and participating in the ongoing all-format tour in South Africa. Both Iyer and Rana were retained by KKR ahead of the IPL 2024 auction, where the team aims to fill 12 slots with a purse of INR 32.7 crores.

Responding to a fan's query about Gambhir's return to KKR, SRK, the team's owner, shared, “Kyunki @GautamGambhir humaara apna hai.

Having been associated with Knight Riders since 2011 until 2017, Gambhir played a pivotal role in the team's success, leading them to five IPL playoffs, including their two championship-winning seasons, and the finals of the Champions League T20 in 2014.