IPL 10: Toughest part in my captaincy tenure has been handling Narine, say Gautam Gambhir

Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Gautam Gambhir has undoubtedly been one of the best captains in the history of the IPL. He has two titles under his belt as the leader of the Knight Riders. Being the captain of a side comes up with a lot of responsibility and Gambhir seems to have shouldered it with ease. The elegant opener recently spoke about the challenges a captain faces with the overseas players in the IPL.

Gautam Gambhir had a good discussion on the same in a conversation with Harsha Bhogle for Cricbuzz. Bhogle asked him how tough it is for an overseas player to come in and settle in the team. He noted that it might not be very easy for someone to gel with everyone straight away. Gambhir responded by saying the best way to handle the overseas players is to give them freedom.

He remarked that it becomes very tough for any player to keep himself motivated knowing that only four overseas players would play at the end of the day. He feels that giving the space is the only way of dealing with the overseas players.

“Just try and give them the freedom. I know there are times when you would feel insecure especially in a tournament like IPL because you are only allowed to play four overseas. So sometimes some players might end up thinking they will get only one or two games in the end, which is very unfortunate for any international player because we can only rotate four players,” quoted Gautam Gambhir.

Also, he cited that the policy of the team has been to pick up players with trust. The team never picks up a player hoping that they would deliver. It is rather about the trust they have on the players. “If you pick someone, you pick someone with trust. You don’t pick someone with hope,” he added.

Lastly, he quoted that handling Sunil Narine has been the toughest part for him in his captaincy. Narine was not a part of the roster last year due to his inappropriate action. Gambhir pointed out that the team will back Narine in all cases and has firm faith in him. Narine will be the key bowler for the team no matter what.

“The toughest thing that has happened in my captaincy tenure for KKR has been the way we have handled Sunil (Narine) with his action. We have always maintained that we are going to back him. Even if he’s not doing well or he’s doing well, he still remains the leader of the attack,” he conceded.