One could be the most outstanding player on earth, but without guidance or mentorship, the road to greatness often becomes an impossible task
Who is the most excellent cricket captain in India's history? The subject is debatable because some feel it is Mahendra Singh Dhoni for winning multiple ICC trophies. On the other end, some hail Kapil Dev for winning India's first ICC trophy. However, a good majority of people hail Sourav Ganguly for his aggressive and stubborn attitude.
Even some of the legendary names from the 2000s credit Ganguly with supporting them because Ganguly didn't like to hear the word 'no'. If he wanted a player on his team, it meant he wanted it, and the selection committee had no option but to agree to his team selection.
In short, he always backed his players.
A similar kind of captainship or mentorship was displayed in the India Premier League (IPL), the country's premier domestic T20 league. In fact, ahead of the 2012 IPL auction, he was hell-bent on one particular player and forced the management to buy that player at any cost.
After having three horrible seasons in 2008, 2009 and 2010, Kolkata Knight Riders roped Gautam Gambhir as the team's new captain and face. Obviously, one season wasn't enough to turn the tides in the team's favour but Gambhir had done the homework for the 2012 season.
Ahead of the 2012 auction, the Indian team was touring Australia, and Gambhir was part of the squad. However, he was also the captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders, and therefore, the auction was on his mind. After all, the team desperately needed a combination of players who would go on to become the champions of the IPL.
Before the auction, Gautam Gambhir had a call with Vijay Dahiya, the former assistant coach of KKR, Vijay Dahiya and Venkatesh Mysore, the CEO and managing director of the Riders.
During that call, Gambhir took the name of a bowler that nobody had heard of. He had an adamant tone, and all he wanted was that bowler on this team. Venkatesh Mysore even said that instead of picking a 'nobody' bowler, KKR had the budget to buy a well-established and proven ball.
However, Gambhir said, "Just remember his name. The moment his name comes up, sign him no matter water."
The next day, Mumbai Indians also bid for that bowler, but Kolkata Knight Riders raised the bar to INR 4.70 crore. Kolkata had grabbed Sunil Narine, a West Indies bowler who was no legend; his portfolio only had a good CLT in 2011.
Narine quickly earned the moniker of the mystery spinner as he left even the best batsmen confused. He ended the tournament with 24 wickets, the second-highest total, and KKR won its first IPL trophy.
At present, Narine is IPL's fourth-highest wicket-taker with 181 wickets. That's not all because in 2017, when the team was struggling with an opener, the West Indies bowler proved to be a fiery opener and has been a consistent power hitter at the top of KKR's batting line-up. Last season, Narine was one of the crucial cogs that led to KKR's IPL winning campaign.
Gambhir's stubbornness and Narine's mysterious action turned him into an IPL legend who had a mere tag of INR 4.70 crore.
