People told me there will be backlashes as I was replacing Ganguly as KKR skipper: Gautam Gambhir

Gautam Gambhir recently revealed how he had his apprehensions after replacing Sourav Ganguly as the captain of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2011 but the people in the City of Joy made him comfortable by welcoming him with unimaginable amount of love.

Gambhir went on to instil a winning mentality in the team and helped the Knight Riders reach the playoffs for the first time in his first year at the helm. In the following year, he led KKR to the coveted IPL title. In 2014, the Kolkata-based franchise won the IPL title once again under the diminutive batter's leadership. Ahead of IPL 2024, Gambhir returned to KKR as their mentor and has helped the Shreyas Iyer-led side to reach the playoffs.

The 42-year-old recalled how some people had warned him that he would face a massive backlash from KKR fans after replacing the hometown hero Sourav as the captain in 2011. However, he expressed his gratitude to the people of Kolkata for standing by him during his time at the franchise.

“A lot of people told me there will be a lot of backlashes because you are replacing someone like Sourav Ganguly. I still remember my first day in Kolkata the amount of love I received was unimaginable. Never thought that I would receive that kind of love because a lot of things were spoken about when Sourav was replaced. But not even once in my seven years of captaincy I was not made to feel that I did not belong to Kolkata and that’s my relationship with the people,” Gambhir told Ashwin on his YouTube channel.

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In my seven years of captaincy, I've never walked alone: Gambhir

Gambhir cast his mind back to the high-voltage encounter between KKR and Ganguly-led Pune Warriors India (PWI) at the Eden Gardens in IPL 2012. The Delhi-born remembered a news headline stating that Bengal will be divided for the second time after partition when Gambhir's KKR meets Sourav's PWI. However, the ODI World Cup winner recalled how he received incredible support from the people of Kolkata on that day and said that they have been by his side to this day.

“I have said it not because I was captaining them I have said it from my heart that Kolkata is my home and that’s the emotion I carry because I remember this one game. We were playing against Pune Warriors and where I think the entire stadium was divided into Purple and Blue and Sourav was leading Pune Warriors. There was this huge article on the match day where it was written in an article that Bengal would be divided for the second time after partition. It was the headline of the front page," Gambhir said.

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“I remember walking out of the hotel we were staying in the same hotel and there was this guy at the gate he said that when you walk today when you go for the toss just remember the entire Bengal will be only cheering for you because KKR belongs to Kolkata and you will not walk alone today and I carried that thought with me to the toss and not even once in my seven years of captaincy I have never walked alone. The people of Kolkata have walked with me and that’s the strength I got from Kolkata and that’s the reason that when I come back to Kolkata it is always about giving back to them,” he added.