Gautam Gambhir's decision gave a push to Shreyas Iyer's career
Gautam Gambhir is a man who has been criticised more than often, but when his decisions go right, they do wonders, and then people have no option but to shower GG with praise.
His exploits at Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are well known to most cricket fans, and at present, he is guiding the Indian cricket team in a direction that has started to bear fruit.
Gambhir is no longer associated with the Indian Premier League (IPL), given his current national team commitments. However, the IPL is in full swing, allowing us to recall a classic move by him that isn't discussed too often.
Gambhir won two IPL titles with KKR between 2011 and 2017. Even in 2016 and 2017, his captaincy helped the team reach the play-offs. However, the Delhi-based player was at the end of his career, and therefore, he himself asked KKR not to retain him for the 2018 season—that was Gautam's first move for his home town in the IPL.
In the 2018 season, Gambhir returned to Delhi and was made captain. However, things went south for the Delhi Capitals (DC) under Gambhir's regime. Delhi lost the first five games out of six, and Gambhir wasn't great with the bat either.
Therefore, he voluntarily stepped down from the captain's chair without wasting further time. Not only did he step down, but he appointed Shreyas Iyer as Delhi's captain. That's not all, as Gambhir also chose not to draw a salary for the rest of the season.
In a press conference, Gambhir explained his decision: "I take full responsibility for where we are at the points table. I thought I hadn't done enough. I needed to take the responsibility as a leader. I felt this was the right time because we still have a chance. [It was] absolutely my decision. I feel that it's time to step down, and I've announced Shreyas Iyer as the next captain. I think that is the way forward for the franchise. No pressure from the franchise."
The damage was already done, as the team only had eight remaining games in the season. However, under Iyer's captaincy, the team won four of the eight matches, which was a decent result even though Delhi Capitals finished the season at the bottom of the table.
Gautam Gambhir's decision to appoint Shreyas as captain proved correct. A year later, in 2019, Iyer's captaincy helped Delhi reach the play-offs for the first time in six years. The Capitals won nine out of 14 games and collected 18 points, the same as the Mumbai Indians, who were table toppers based on the difference in net run rate.
In the following years, Shreyas Iyer was roped in by KKR, whereas Gautam Gambhir rejoined the purple outfit as its mentor. 2024 witnessed KKR lifting its third IPL title under Iyer's captaincy. It is quite unfortunate that people feel Iyer didn't get enough credit for the victory and criticise Gambhir. But people forget that it was Gambhir who rooted for Iyer's captaincy – Gambhir, an epitome of selflessness in Indian cricket.
