Former Indian cricketer and Kolkata Knight Riders mentor Gautam Gambhir expressed his major regret from his captaincy tenure with the franchise during a conversation with Sportskeeda. Gambhir believed that he and the team management failed to fully utilize the potential of Suryakumar Yadav in his early years.
Gambhir led the Knight Riders in 122 IPL matches from 2011 to 2017, winning 69 of them. Under his captaincy, KKR secured two IPL titles in 2012 and 2014.
Meanwhile, ‘SKY’ joined the franchise in 2014 and appeared in 54 matches until the 2017 season. During this period, he accumulated 608 runs in 41 innings, averaging 22.52 with a strike rate of 131.89.
Suryakumar primarily batted at No. 6 or No. 7 for KKR due to the presence of players like Chris Lynn, Sunil Narine, Robin Uthappa, and Gautam Gambhir at the top. Gambhir noted that Surya’s team-oriented approach led to his appointment as vice-captain in 2015.
Here’s Gambhir’s exclusive statement on SK Match ki Baat:
“A leader’s role is to identify the best potential and show it to the world. If there is one regret I have in my seven years of captaincy is that me and as a team never managed to use Suryakumar Yadav to the best of his potential. The reason was down to combinations.”
“You can only play one player at No. 3. And as a leader, you have to think about the other 10 players in the XI as well. He would have been way more effective at No. 3, but was equally good at No. 7.”
The 42-year-old added:
“Whether you played him at No. 6 or 7 or benched him, he was always smiling and always ready to perform for the team. That’s why we appointed him as the vice-captain.”
Following his four-year tenure with KKR, Suryakumar Yadav moved to Mumbai Indians in 2018, where he established himself as the No. 3 batsman. He has amassed a total of 2,986 IPL runs for Mumbai, including 1,533 runs at the No. 3 position, with a strike rate of 146.83 and a highest score of 103*.
“Suryakumar Yadav has the potential to perform exceptionally well in various formats”- Gautam Gambhir
The former Indian cricketer believes Suryakumar Yadav possesses the capability to perform well across various formats. Currently ranked as the No. 1 T20I batsman globally, ‘SKY’ has scored over 700 runs at an average of 48.83 and a strike rate of 155.96, with his highest score being 112* off 51 balls against Sri Lanka.
However, his performance in ODIs, with an average of 25.76 in 37 matches, and his sole appearance in Test cricket in February 2023 indicate otherwise. Nevertheless, Gautam Gambhir disagrees and believes the 33-year-old batsman has much to offer to the Indian team in these formats as well.
“He should not be satisfied, as Suryakumar Yadav is not a one-format player,” Gambhir said on SK Match ki Baat.
“He has the ability to excel across all formats, and if you make yourself the one-format player, you would have under-achieved in your career. And He can be dangerous in the ODI format as well, and I hope he will not make himself a one-format player and keep working hard.”
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