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A player walking into a press conference and lavishing praise on someone who is no longer part of the dressing room creates scope for interpretation. Harshit Rana talking about Gautam Gambhir’s “aura” and the “thrill factor” that Kolkata Knight Riders’ erstwhile mentor brought during the team’s title-winning campaign last term might not sit well with the current coaching set-up.

The question at the pre-match press conference, before KKR face Delhi Capitals in Delhi on Tuesday, was about Gambhir. Rana's response was: “The support staff is basically the same. Even (Abhishek) Nayar bhai is back. But yes, there was a thrill factor that I miss a little - speaking just for myself and not anyone else. But it's nothing like that. It's all the same - Chandu sir (Chandrakant Pandit), Nayar bhai and (Dwayne) Bravo. We are getting the kind of environment we want.”

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Gambhir masterminded KKR's title triumph last season. After he was roped in by the BCCI as India coach, KKR replaced him with Bravo. The Trinidadian was earlier part of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) set-up in the IPL - as a player and then as a coach. He is a T20 legend who has won everything this format can offer. The ongoing season is actually his bedding-in period with a new group of players.

Going back to Gambhir, Rana was asked to elaborate on what the team’s former mentor brought to the table. “I wasn't talking about anything personal,” he said. “But you know, he has an aura in the way he takes the team forward.”

KKR sit seventh in the table at the moment, with just three wins from nine matches. The game against Capitals is a virtual win-or-bust affair, as the defending champions need to win their remaining five league matches to secure a playoff berth. A tally of 14 or 15 points still might take them there, but they will have to wait for other results in that case.

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Can a side that has “lost confidence”, according to Bravo, do that? Also, the way players have been talking about Nayar and Gambhir, in Rana's case, one might read between the lines and interpret that Pandit, the head coach, is probably losing the dressing room.

Nayar was swiftly brought back to the KKR fold after losing his job as the Indian team’s assistant coach. At the press conference, Rana was full of praise for the former Mumbai all-rounder. “He (Nayar) has a very smart mind,” said Rana. “He reads the game very well, and he knows the Indian core of our team very well. He has developed them, and it helps us that he is back.”

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