Former Indian opener and now a cricket commentator Aakash Chopra has heaped praise on his Delhi teammate Gautam Gambhir for the success of the Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League. KKR has thus far won two IPL titles and both the titles came under the leadership of Gautam Gambhir. The left-handed batsman was able to get the best out of the players and the results were palpable.
Gambhir led KKR in 108 IPL matches in which the team won 61 matches whereas lost 46 and one match ended in a tie. Thus, Gambhir is regarded as one of the best IPL captains. Gambhir was given the captaincy baton of the KKR back in 2011 and he led the franchise to glory in 2012.
Gautam Gambhir got the best out of the players
In fact, Gambhir is well known for his aggressive captaincy. It was noticed during Gambhir’s tenure as captain that he would place fielders at silly point or short-leg when KKR was on top. Such field placements were rarely seen in the shortest format of the game.
“One more thing that was special about Gautam was, he asked the players not to do what he says but to do what he does. He was leading from the front, he was an aggressive captain and that actually showed.”
“After reaching the playoffs in 2011, they became the champions in 2012 for the first time, 2013 was a bad year when they finished 7th but bounced back again to become the champions in 2014, league stage in 2015 and 2016 and 2017 were also not bad as they finished 4th and 3rd. So, they didn’t make the playoffs only two times and became champions two times under Gautam Gambhir.”
“Gautam Gambhir has an indelible impression in KKR’s history. Whenever KKR’s history is read, they will owe a huge debt to what Gautam Gambhir did for their team.”
Gautam Gambhir not only delivered the goods for KKR as a captain but also provided the runs. The southpaw is the leading run-getter for the KKR as he amassed 3035 runs in 108 matches at an average of 31.61 and a strike rate of 124.68.
The left-hander provided some solid start to the team while opening the batting. Meanwhile, the IPL is all set to begin from September 19 in the UAE with Dubai, Sharjah, and Abu Dhabi to host all the matches.