IPL 2024: Gautam Gambhir reveals ‘one regret’ as KKR captain

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) mentor Gautam Gambhir served as the franchise captain from 2012 and 2017 and is their most successful skipper in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

KKR won the title twice, 2012 and 2014, under Gambhir’s captaincy as he had a pool of talent which played its part during the title-winning campaings.

One player, who later became a big name was Suryakumar Yadav, he was part of KKR from 2014 to 2017 where he amassed 608 runs in 54 matches before leaving the franchise for Mumbai Indians, where he found his best form and became one of the best batters of the shorter format.

Talking to Sportskeeda, Gambhir revealed that he regrets not being able to use Suryakumar to the best of his abilities as KKR could never find the right combination to accommodate him.

“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,” Gambhir told Sportskeeda.

“And 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.”

He then praised Suryakumar for being a team player as he never complained despite playing out of position or even the times he was benched.

“He was also a team man. Anyone can be a good player, but being a team man is a difficult task. Whether you play him at No. 6 or 7 or bench him, he was always smiling and always ready to perform for the team. That is why we appointed him as the vice-captain,” he added.