Gautam Gambhir was considered as champion when he posed as a winner with Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL in May 2012. Above all he is barred from the Indian cricket team in 2013 and is out to restore his reputation as an apex player.
Gambhir is supposed to be doing his best to rediscover the depth that made him an important player of the team in the past.
The opener declared that he does not need sympathies at a promotional occasion on Thursday. He added that his target was to take part and win in an overseas Test series. His personal objective was to be included as a member of a Test series-winning squad outside the country and add to his scores. He claimed that it is an honour and not pressure to lead KKR last year. He claimed that if he lacked confidence, he would never have taken up the captaincy of Knight Riders. Gambhir was enthused to know that the Indian cricket board was planning an ‘A’ tour to South Africa later this year before the national team’s departure. It is grand news for him. He concluded that two mushy games in those circumstances are not sufficient. By the time the players gets accustomed to the pace and bounce of the surfaces, two Test matches are already complete. He assured that this ‘A’ tour will definitely support the players to measure their weaknesses, return and then work on them before the Test series commences.
Gambhir is a member of the team that has suffered eight straight Test losses outside India. He laid stress in making rank turners for visitors from exterior of the subcontinent. When interrogated about the rhetoric of defeating one another, he described that until a team gets victory abroad, it is not considered as a force. He believes that winning in abroad circumstances matters a lot. He is glad that they have performed well at home country and using this advantage which every nation does. He pointed to South Africa and added that they have defeated Australia in Australia and England in England for which they deserve to be the world’s best team.
Gambhir termed it as a political decision and highlighted that exclusion of one or two Sri Lankan players from playing in Chennai would not affect anything. KKR has only one Sri Lankan off-spinner Sachitra Senanayeke. He opined that one or two individuals do not constitute a team. If eleven players are proceeding in the same direction, it can definitely challenge the opposite team. In case Senanayeke is included in the other fifteen league games, he is optimal to strike an excellent combination with Sunil Narine.
Gautam Gambhir does not need any sympathy. He has already raised the gleaming IPL trophy for KKR last year. He is confident about his performance and anticipates better opportunity for the team at overseas at the end of 2013. From his remarks about the Sri Lankan players playing in Chennai, it is evident that he is optimistic about them and will not influence the entire IPL.
