Having led KKR to two titles in 2012 and 2014, it wasn’t a surprise when Gambhir was cajoled into coming back to shepherd the team which had underperformed the previous year.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 was back as the skipper, but the icing on the cake was getting Gambhir on board. Team co-owner Shah Rukh Khan would have put on all his charm to poach Gambhir from Lucknow Super Giants. He managed, and the straight-talking Gambhir was emotional for a change.
“Not many things move me. But this is different. This is back to where it all started. Today, there is a lump in my throat and fire in my heart as I think about slipping into that purple and gold jersey once again. I am back. I am hungry. I am number 23,” Gambhir said in a statement put out by KKR.
Yes, he was back, and the beautiful journey had started all over again.
Before the tournament, Nitish Rana, while speaking to TOI, talked about the positive vibes in the dressing room and credited Gambhir for that.
“The body language is different this time. We know we can go all the way,” although Rana did not get to see too much action on the field this time due to an injury, his words proved prophetic.
“Gautam bhai’s return is a huge boost for us,” Rana said. “I have learnt a lot from him and his ideas work very well.”
One of them was to make Sunil Narine open again. The Trinidadian spinner had perhaps had never fancied himself much as a batter, let alone as an opener, till 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.
Even though Englishman Salt could not stay on till the end, his tango with Narine laid the foundation for this triumph. 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 the Chepauk conquest on Sunday, Narine spoke of Gambhir’s backing that gave him the confidence to play his natural game.
“GG (Gambhir) just saying, ‘go there and enjoy it, just try to win a few games for the team’ was a good advice,” Narine said after collecting the ‘Most Valuable Player’ award as his birthday gift. A little while earlier, he had lifted Gambhir and the mentor — despite his seemingly frail physique — had reciprocated.
Earlier, during a KKR event, Gambhir had spoken about mentoring Narine when he first joined KKR.
“This young shy boy came in 2012 and did not utter a word. He has gone through so much in this jersey, what any cricketer would never go through.”
It was good to see the shy boy, now transformed into a confident cricketer, laughing with his mentor. This support also kept Mitchell Starc going, particularly when it was being doubted if the almost Rs 25 crore tag on him was justified. Gambhir backed the Aussie to the hilt when the pacer was leaking runs in deluge.
“Four games doesn’t make him a bad bowler,” Gambhir had said when Starc was conceding almost 15 runs an over. “I know that what impact he can create and what impact he will create in the competition.”
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. A hug and a kiss from Shah Rukh Khan was quite an apt gesture. The KKR owner will, of course, face a stiffer challenge to keep him back, more so with speculations of an India job knocking.
At an event for fans, famed Kolkata singer Usha Uthup had exhorted Gambhir to smile more. She had finished with: “Gautam, we love you, even if you are Gambhir.”
Kolkata will always have a special place for Gambhir, even if he swaps the KKR jersey for India’s blue.
