Gautam Gambhir reveals ex-Dream11 IPL team Kolkata's biggest mistake of all-time

The Kolkata franchise had an abysmal Dream11 IPL 2020 campaign as they failed to make it to the playoffs and finished at the fifth spot with seven wins and as many losses. The Men in Purple, who were among the top-performing IPL franchises in the first half of the last decade, haven't been the same in the latter half. After winning IPL titles in 2012 and 2014, Kolkata have failed to get going in the tournament.

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Gautam Gambhir reveals Kolkata's biggest loss in 13 years of Dream111 IPL

Now, former Kolkata captain Gautam Gambhir who led the franchise to the two Dream11 IPL titles, hjas revealed the biggest mistake that the two-time champions have made in the last 13 years. While speaking to ESPNCricinfo, Gambhir said that Suryakumar Yadav was not easily earned by Mumbai and added that letting the right-hander is Kolkata's biggest mistake in the last 13 years.

Gambhir further said that as a youngster Yadav came to Kolkata and played for four years but couldn’t get the number where he should have batted at because of the batting line up they had at that time. The former Indian cricketer reckoned that the Kolkata team could have easily built around Yadav, who was the vice-captain when he was leading the side.

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Gambhir opined that for the easy transition after his retirement, he made Yadav the vice-captain of the franchise because he could see leadership qualities in him. He further called Yadav a 'selfless' player who can bat any number and reckoned that is the kind of players you want. Gambhir went on to say that the biggest loss Kolkata have ever had is probably letting go Yadav because you don’t get Indian players with that kind of talent.

The former Kolkata captain said that we still haven’t seen his leadership quality. However, he added that Yadav has got a great head on his shoulder and the right-hander knows how to lead a side. Gambhir was sure that going forward, Yadav will take charge of Mumbai if he stays with them.

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Meanwhile, the Mumbai franchise successfully managed to defend their Dream11 IPL title as they beat Delhi in the final by five wickets on Tuesday in Dubai. With their win over Shreyas Iyer's men, Mumbai continued their supremacy in the cash-rich league. The Mumbai IPL title wins count has now gone up to five, which is the most for a single franchise. In doing so, they also became the second IPL team to defend their title after Chennai who did it in 2011.

Suryakumar Yadav Dream11 IPL stats

The Suryakumar Yadav Dream11 IPL stats for 2020 have been spectacular. The Mumbai batsman scored 480 runs in 16 matches at a stunning average of 40.00 and strike-rate of 145.01. He also ended as the third-highest run-scorer for his side behind Ishan Kishan (516) and Quinton de Kock (503). The right-hander's contribution was immense in making Mumbai the IPL 2020 winners.

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SOURCE: KOLKATA IPL TEAM TWITTER