“Don’t Consider Dropping…”: Gautam Gambhir On His ‘Only Cricket Chat’ With Shah Rukh Khan

Former India batter Gautam Gambhir can be returning to his outdated IPL franchise, Kolkata Knight Riders as a mentor for the upcoming season. The 2011 World Cup champion had earlier led KKR to 2 IPL title in 2012 and 2014. In his seven-year stint with the workforce, he has taken KKR to new heights and completed as one of many best batters of the event. Gambhir, who earlier mentored Lucknow Super Giants in IPL 2022 and 2023, not too long ago opened up about his bond with KKR co-owner and Bollywood famous person, Shah Rukh Khan.

Gambhir revealed that how Shah Rukh motivated him throughout his preliminary struggles in IPL 2014 after he had determined to drop himself.

“In 2014, during the IPL in Abu Dhabi, I began with three consecutive ducks. In the fourth game, I managed to score one run. With four losses in our first five matches, as we returned to Ritz Carlton after another defeat, Shah Rukh Khan stood in the lobby. He pulled me aside and inquired about the situation. I mentioned I was contemplating dropping myself,” Gambhir said on ANI’s Smita Prakash podcast.

“He said, ‘As long as you’re committed and want to be part of the team, don’t consider dropping yourself.’ He urged me to promise that I’d play every game as long as I was there. I managed to score two or three half-centuries consecutively, and we emerged victorious in 2014. Surprisingly, that turned out to be my only cricket-related conversation with him in my seven years of
captaincy,” Gambhir added.

Gambhir obtained dismissed for duck within the first two video games of IPL 2014 and scored just one run within the third match. However, that season turned out to be nice one for him as he completed with 335 runs in 16 matches.

His workforce KKR had misplaced first 5 video games out of seven however then went to register 9 consecutive wins, together with the summit conflict in opposition to Punjab Kings.