Gautam Gambhir reveals what KKR owners told him after replacing Sourav Ganguly as captain

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) were one of most hyped franchises ahead of IPL 2008 because of several reasons. Kolkata-based franchise had one of top Bollywood stars in form of ir owner. In addition to that, y had local lad Sourav Ganguly at helm along with superstars like Chris Gayle, Ricky Ponting and Brendon McCullum within ir ranks. 

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Gautam Gambhir reveals what KKR owner told him ahead of IPL 2011

However, despite all big names, KKR failed to live up to expectations as y didn't qualify for playoffs even once in first three seasons. That's why team went through a complete overhaul ahead of IPL 2011. KKR brought Gautam Gambhir on board as captain of franchise. southpaw was in terrific form as he was fresh from playing a match-winning 97-run kck in final against Sri Lanka that won India ir second ODI World Cup after 28 years.

KKR included players like Yusuf Pathan, Jacques Kallis and Brett Lee within ir ranks and franchise's performance improved drastically. It didn't take m long to lay ir hands on ir maiden IPL trophy as y beat Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2012 final to win coveted title.

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w, nine years after Gautam Gambhir was handed reins of franchise, southpaw has opened up on what franchise's owners had told him before IPL’s fourth season in 2011. While speaking on Star Sports show ‘Cricket Connected’, Gautam Gambhir said that one of KKR owners promised him that this was Gambhir's team and that he won't interfere at all in its running, so it was upto him to make it or break it. Gautam Gambhir promised in reply that by time he leaves, wher it was gonna be in three years or six years, he will get  franchise in a much better position than what it was.

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Gautam Gambhir lived up to his promise as he led franchise to two IPL titles in 2012 and 2014. KKR is third most successful franchise in league's history after Mumbai Indians (4 titles) and Chennai Super Kings (3 titles). Gautam Gambhir’s aggressive captaincy, his consistent batting and backing of youngsters like Sunil Narine, Kuldeep Yadav and Andre Russell made KKR a force to reckon with.

Gautam Gambhir was instrumental in KKR's maiden IPL triumph as he scored 590 runs in 16 matches at a strike rate of 143.55 which is his best ever in IPL. 38-year-old, who led KKR for seven seasons, is also ir highest run-scorer with 3,345 runs in 122 matches.

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IM COURTESY: PTI