The newly appointed team India head coach, Gautam Gambhir has expressed his appreciation to the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and their fans as he steps down from his mentor role of the franchise, after leading the team to their third title in 2024.
The strong bond started in 2012, when the former left-handed India batter gifted the Knight Riders their very first trophy of the tournament, getting the better of Chennai Super Kings. After missing out in 2013, under Gautam Gambhir’s leadership, the ‘purple franchise’ again earned another title in 2014.
Since then, there has been a decade-long drought of success. Kolkata reached the final of the competition only once in 2021, where they failed to cross the final huddle. But as their former captain returned to the franchise in a new role, all the pieces of the puzzle sat in the right place.
‘I dream when you dream, I achieve when you achieve’- Gautam Gambhir
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) official named Gautam Gambhir as the successor of former head coach of the national team, Rahul Dravid, on July 9, as his first assignment will begin during the upcoming Sri Lanka trip.
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The Delhi-born shared a heart-touching video on X (formerly known as Twitter), displaying a very strong bond with the Kolkata team. In that message, he looked back at the significance of that journey.
‘I smile when you smile. I cry when you cry. I win when you win. I lose, when you lose. I dream when you dream. I achieve when you achieve. I believe with you and I become with you. I am you, Kolkata, I am just one of you.’ Gautam Gambhir expressed in his voice in the video. ‘I know your struggles and I know where it hurts. The rejections have crushed me but like you, I wake up embracing hope. I get beaten every day but like you, I am yet to be defeated.’
The 42-year-old conveys the feeling of being part of Kolkata, and what this city means to him. The joy he has brought after winning the recent IPL is second none to the people of the city.
‘They tell me to be popular, I tell them to be a winner. I am you; Kolkata I am just one of you. This Kolkata air talks to me. The sounds, the streets here, the traffic jams.’ Gautam Gambhir observed. ‘They all convey how you feel. I hear what you say, but I know what you mean. I know you are emotional. So am I. I know you’re demanding. So am I. Kolkata, we are a bond. We are a story. We are a team.’
Now, with a new journey awaiting, he looks ahead to create some legacies together and to write bolder scripts, which will be in blue ink rather than purple.
‘And now the time has come when we have to create some legacies together. The time has come when we have to write some bigger and bolder scripts. The script not with purple ink but in that blue, the treasured India blue.’ He noted.
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For Gambhir, the challenge now will be huge to carry the blue brigade to bigger success, as he looks forward to serving the tricolor.
‘As we both take our fresh card we promise each other that we will never walk alone. It will always be shoulder-to-shoulder, hand in hand. It will all be for the tricolor. It will all be about our India.’ Gautam Gambhir concluded.
The first huge tournament for him will be the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025, in February, and later the final of the third edition of the World Test Championship (WTC), if they finally go on to qualify.