Published: Mar 20, 2024, 02:57 PM (IST)
Edited: Mar 20, 2024, 02:57 PM (IST)
Former India opener Gautam Gambhir returned to the Kolkata Knight Riders as their mentor ahead of the 2024 Indian Premier League. Gambhir had guided the KKR to title success on two times as captain – in 2012 and 2014 – and the club management will hope for a repeat when its former skipper returns in a new role for the team.
The former India opener shared a story from the 2011 IPL season, when he joined the Knight Riders and captained them. He remembers a gesture from the team’s Dutch hitter, Ryan ten Doeschate, that left an impression for lifetime on him.
“When I talk about selflessness, I have never said this in 42 years of my career, and I wanted to say this. The greatest team man I have ever played with, the most selfless human being, someone I can take a bullet for, someone who I can trust for life, and I can tell you this because in 2011 my first game as a KKR captain,” Gambhir said at the KKR jersey launch event.
“We only had four overseas players available, and this man had a fabulous 50-over World Cup, and we went in that game with only three overseas players, and he was carrying drinks in that game with no disappointment on his face. He taught me selflessness. Ryan ten Doeschate. These are the people who made me the leader,” Gambhir revealed.
Ten Doeschate, interestingly, made his IPL debut the same season and played six matches for the KKR, hitting 107 runs at an excellent strike rate of 146.57.
Throughout his career, he appeared in 29 IPL games, the last of which came in 2015.
