Indian veteran batsman Gautam Gambhir spoke his heart out a few days before the mega auctions of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018. The man who led the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for seven long years and won two titles donning the purple jersey was shockingly snubbed by the Shah Rukh Khan-owned franchise. Since then, Gambhir’s participation in the eleventh edition of the cash-rich tournament has created quite a stir in the auction pool. There have been several speculations that Gambhir might return to his old team, Delhi Daredevils. However, the man himself has cleared the air ahead of the auction scheduled on January 27 and 28 in Bengaluru.
While speaking to PTI, Gambhir spoke about the kind of role he wants to play in the IPL and how he was not bothered about any particular franchise. He said,
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“I am at a stage of my career where I want to be a senior statesman, a mentor to the younger cricketers. Whether that happens in KKR, Sunrisers, Delhi, Mumbai I am absolutely fine with it.”
“This is a question that only the franchisees can answer. People know what I bring in the package as a captain and as a player. I’ll be happy to take any group to the next levels wherever I am picked,” he added.
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Gambhir stated that after he was released, the reason for this massive decision was explained to him. When asked whether he will miss the KKR side if not rebought by them, he said,
“It will be tough as KKR gave a platform to express me as a batsman, a leader, as a human. But at the end of the day I respect the call KKR has taken, they have some solid reasons behind the move which they have explained and I am fine with them. There are no hard feelings at all, maybe there are fresh challenges waiting for me. I will be glad to accept them and turn things around. Let us see what happens.”
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In the recent domestic season, Gambhir has been doing great with the bat and expecting a good season ahead. He said,
“I am absolutely ready to compete with players of any age-group or talent pool. I have had an almost 700-run season in Ranji Trophy, I have been working hard on my fitness for last 5 years and this is what matters.”
