JOIN USWhat does it take for Gautam Gambhir to smile? True to his name, the Kolkata Knight Riders skipper wore a serious look as he addressed the media after his team’s title triumph in IPL 5, and it actually needed some nudging, not so literally though, to break the ice.
“Maybe it has to sink in. Maybe when that happens I’ll get a smile on my face,” said the left-hander when asked why was he still so serious after ‘accomplishing the mission’? “As I said, that’s how I’ve been. It works for me. Being intense does not mean that you’re always serious. Sometimes you just want to be in your shell and not show out too many emotions to the world. But I am happy,” he remarked.
Gambhir said he was confident of scaling Chennai’s target of 191, despite him getting out in the opening over. “First of all it’s not about me or that I got out early. It’s about eleven people who took the field. We always had the belief that if any opposition can get 190 against our bowling attack then it has to be a very good wicket to bat on. Throughout the tournament, the way we’ve bowled, we’ve never conceded so many, other than the one game against the Mumbai Indians where they got 180-odd. The guys proved it. The way Bisla batted, the maturity and experience that Jacques showed and the cameos from Shakib and Tiwary at the end … It’s not about how you start but it’s how you finish,” he reasoned.
The southpaw said it was because of his superstition that he didn’t remove his pads till the end of the innings despite having been dismissed in the opening over. “Now, I can be honest and tell you that it was a superstition. There was only once in the tournament when I took off my pads after I got out, and that was against the Kings XI. We could not manage to get 13 from 12 balls in that match. I was not shell shocked because it wasn’t about me getting out – KKR is not about me, it’s about we. I was just one of the players going out there to contribute for KKR. I had faith in all the players,” he explained.
Gambhir was also full of praise for his ‘non-interfering’ owner Shah Rukh Khan. “I can only guess that he should be happy. He’s been a great owner. Not once in the tournament has he put any pressure on me or the team. Though we started by losing the first two games, he never interfered with the cricket aspects. There has been the suggestion that he has interfered in the past, but ever since I was made captain he has not interfered. It was important for us to win it for him because he’s seen a lot of lows and controversies, and when someone’s done that it’s important they get to savour the success when it comes.”