A fuming Gautam Gambhir shocked one and all in the KKR dressing room

Very few know about an incidence which took place in the Kolkata Knight Riders dressing room in between the change of innings against their match against Royal Challenger Bangalore. A disappointed and angry Gautam Gambhir lashed out at his teammates for their dismal show with the bat.

The KKR team was cruising through after the start provided by Sunil Narine in the powerplay with the scoreboard reading 65/1. As it turned out, the entire batting heavy line-up was bundled out within 131 runs. The lack of fight which led to a batting collapse infuriated the skipper.

The pep talk that Gautam Gambhir gave before the commencement of the second innings featured him threatening players of losing their slot in the side had they refused to show fight with the ball. Gambhir’s reaction shocked one and all in the KKR camp.

“As the innings break was nearing the end I got the entire team together. There may be 60-odd thousand roaring outside our dressing room but inside it was so silent that you could hear people think! I started speaking and let go of all I had. I wanted intensity from my teammates.” said the KKR skipper as per cricbuzz.com.

“I wanted them to fight. I wanted them to win. I told them whoever dropped on intent should understand that this could be his last game for KKR, at least in my captaincy,” added the left-hander.

He further mentioned that the collapse hurt him and he wanted the players to know that. “When I write this almost 24 hours later, I remember some of them looking at me, shocked and surprised. For most part of my stint as KKR leader I have always been one of the boys, easy-going, relaxed and a bit of a prankster. I have never imposed myself but the batting collapse hurt me.” remarked Gambhir.

He further added that even if it takes a few points off the fair play awards, the southpaw wanted his boys to get under the opposition’s skin in order to win the match. Gambhir said, “I thought that we were not taking enough pride. I don’t know whether TV cameras or microphones caught it but we were chirping all the time when RCB were batting. I am happy to lose spots on the IPL Fairplay award list but I can not see my team slipping on the points table.”

Gauti was all praises for the right-arm pacer from Perth Scorchers and was impressed with his efforts in the match which set the tone for the team. “The team responded brilliantly. The tone was set by Nathan Coulter-Nile. During my stint with Justin Langer at Perth, I had seen Coulter-Nile train with the Western Australia state team.”

“He is a mean looking guy, strong as an ox. We didn’t speak a word as I passed the ball to him. He knew his job. The Aussie bowled like the wind and I supported him with attacking fields. My being under the helmet was more of a statement than a catching position”

“There was another sight which would have pleased every supporter of Indian cricket. An Indian fast bowler Umesh Yadav having ‘Boss of Universe’ Chris Gayle ducking and weaving was the highlight of the game. Add to all this, our catching was top draw.” concluded the KKR skipper.

In the end, the pep worked wonders for the team as they dismantled the Royal Challengers Bangalore within 10 overs and for just 49 runs; the lowest team score in the IPL. KKR won the match by a massive margin of 82 runs.