Former India opener Gautam Gambhir, who successfully led the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to the Indian Premier League (IPL) title win on two occasions as captain – in 2012 and 2014 – before making a comeback as the team’s mentor ahead of the 2024 season, credited the KKR franchise for making him a successful leader.

Gambhir, whose association with the franchise dates back to the fourth edition of the IPL in 2011, was instrumental in reviving a struggling side, taking them to the knockout stages in his first year as captain. Subsequently, the KKR went on to win two titles between 2012 and 2014.

“I did not make KKR successful. It was KKR that made me a successful leader. KKR for me was never about purple and gold and those two stars which you see on the jersey. It was far more beyond that. First, KKR meant passion, KKR meant honesty, it meant sacrifice and selflessness,” Gambhir said during the team’s jersey launch event in Kolkata.

“I am a very tough guy to manage,” Gambhir said, while thanking owner Shah Rukh Khan and KKR managing director Venky Mysore for “putting up” with his tantrums during his tenure as captain.

Known for his ability for rejuvenating struggling teams, Gambhir was roped back by the franchise ahead of the 2024 season, following KKR’s below-par performances, finishing seventh in the past two seasons.

The former Delhi batter revealed that it took a one-liner from the franchise owner and Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan to convince him to return to the franchise in the new role.

“This is your franchise. Make it or break it,” Gambhir recalled Shah Rukh as saying both in 2011 when Gambhir was made captain and now, when he has come back as mentor.

Picks former Dutch teammate as ‘greatest team man’

Recalling an anecdote from the 2011 IPL season, Gambhir picked the KKR’s 2011 Dutch recruit, Ryan ten Doeschate as the ‘greatest team man’ while revealing a gesture from the Netherlands batter which Gambhir felt had made a significant impact on him.

Doeschate, incidentally, also made his IPL debut in the same season and represented the KKR in six matches that year, scoring 107 runs at an impressive strike rate of 146.57.

“When I talk about selflessness, the greatest team man I have ever played with, the most selfless human being, someone I can take a bullet for, someone I can trust for life… In 2011, my first game as a KKR captain, we only had four overseas players available. This man had a fabulous 50-over World Cup,” Gambhir said.

“We went into that game with only three overseas players. He was carrying drinks in that game with no disappointment on his face. He taught me selflessness – Ryan ten Doeschate. These are people who taught me to be a leader,” he added.

The 2024 season of the IPL will witness the reunion of Gambhir with Ten Doeschate, who now serves as KKR’s fielding coach.

The Kolkata Knight Riders, bolstered by the return of their captain Shreyas Iyer and the arrival of their star signing Mitchell Starc, will take the field on March 23 when they face Pat Cummins’ Sunrisers Hyderabad at home. Iyer had missed the entire 2023 season of the IPL due to a back injury and Nitish Rana had captained the side in Iyer’s absence.