[ad_1]
Shah Rukh Khan (left) and Gautam Gambhir© X (formerly Twitter)
Gautam Gambhir’s captaincy had once helped Kolkata Knight Riders carve their own niche with two IPL titles in the last decade and as the former India opener begins his new journey as ‘Team Mentor’, the effort is to place them in a better position compared to current situation. Turning around the fortunes of a beleaguered team is nothing new for Gambhir, who took charge of KKR during the fourth season of IPL after Shah Rukh’s co-owned team failed to make the knockout in the first three.
“I can assure you that whenever I leave this place (KKR), we will be in a much better position,” Gambhir said at a promotional event ahead of the upcoming IPL season.
The handsome former left-handed opener expressed his gratitude to KKR and its owner, Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan, and his team for their immense support over the years.
“I want to make one thing clear. I didn’t make KKR successful, KKR made me successful. KKR made me a leader,” he said.
Someone who wears his heart on his sleeve, Gambhir, could really come up short and it will be interesting to see what kind of working relationship he forges with another volatile but highly successful national coach, Chandrakant Pandit.
“I am a very difficult guy to deal with. I have to thank SRK (Shah Rukh) and (Venky) Mysore (KKR CEO) for putting up with my tantrums all these years.” Gambhir, an elected MP from east Delhi, known for his outspokenness, said that the day he joined KKR, Shah Rukh gave him a free pass. “He (SRK) told me the same thing he had told me when I came in as a player. ‘This is your franchise, make it or break it.'”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated channel.)
Topics mentioned in this article.