Is Gautam Gambhir merely a good luck charm or is there more to his presence in KKR? There is something deeper behind this passionate mentor and the franchise.
Therefore, it was not surprising when Gambhir was convinced to come back and lead the team that performed below par last year after leading KKR to two titles in 2012 and 2014. Under Nitish Rana (stand-in captain) and Chandrakant Pandit (coach), KKR had finished seventh and a booster shot was the need of the hour before another season.
Shreyas Iyer returning as captain made it even better; however, getting Gambhir on board was like icing on the cake. Shah Rukh Khan (team co-owner) would have used all his star quality to entice Gambhir from Lucknow Super Giants. That he did, with an emotional switch in him for change.
“Very few things make me cry. But this one does. This is going back where everything started from”. So today my heart burns but I am about slipping into purple and gold jersey again. I am back. I am hungry. I am number 23,” said Gautam Gambhir’s statement put out by KKR.
Yes, he returned thereby beginning the beautiful journey again.
Before the tournament started, Nitish Rana spoke with TOI about the positive vibes in their dressing room that were credited to Gambhir.
“This time around, we have different body language. We know we can go all the way.” Even though there wasn’t much impact from him on field this time due to an injury but his words came true as predicted earlier by him.
“It’s great that Gautam bhai has come back” said Rana “He speaks a lot of sense which helps.”
One of them was making Sunil Narine open once again. The Trinidadian spinner had perhaps never fancied himself much as a batter, let alone as an opener, until Gambhir pushed him to the top of the innings for KKR in 2017. It was deja vu this time when Narine opened with Phil Salt and the combination worked like magic.
While Englishman Salt could not stay till the end but his partnership with Narine laid a solid foundation for this victory. And to think of it, Salt wasn’t even in the initial roster. He came in as a replacement for Jason Roy, perhaps another of Gambhir’s brainchild.
After Sundya’s win at Chepauk, Sunil Narine spoke about how Gambhir supported him to play his natural game.
“A good advice is what GG (Gambhir) just saying, ‘go there and enjoy it, just try to win a few games for the team’,” said Narine who won ‘Most Valuable Player’ award on his birthday gift. Therefore he had lifted up Gambhir and somehow reciprocated amidst this seemingly weak looking physique earlier on.
At a KKR function before this tourney started off Gambhir articulated on mentoring Narine from when he first joined KKR.
“The jersey of KKR has seen so much from this young shy boy who came in 2012 and didn’t speak anything at all.”
He was happy to see the awkward little boy become a brash cricketer and now he was laughing with his mentor. It also helped Mitchell Starc to keep going, especially when Rs 25 crore price tag on him seemed too high. Thus Gambhir stuck by Aussie fast bowler even in such tough times as now.
“Four games doesn’t make him a bad bowler,” Gambhir said about Starc who ended up conceding almost fifteen runs per over then. “I know how far he can go and what impact he will have on this tournament.”
The impact came in the knockout games, particularly with a near unplayable ball that castled Abhishek Sharma on Sunday and set KKR on the road to victory. The hug and kiss from Shah Rukh Khan were quite correct gestures of gratitude for me. That is why retaining the KKR owner has become tougher, especially with speculations of India job around.
Gambhir does not show his emotions but during an event for fans at Eden Gardens stadium, famous Kolkata singer Usha Uthup had asked him to smile more. She finished with: “Gautam, we love you, even if you are Gambhir.”
Kolkata will always be special to Gambhir irrespective of whether he changes into India’s blue jersey from being a KKR player or otherwise.
