Gautam Gambhir, the former India opener, has been roped in as the mentor of the Lucknow Super Giants, one of the two new IPL franchises added from IPL 2022. And straightaway, Gambhir has demanded commitment from Lucknow’s three current players – KL Rahul, Marcus Stoinis and Ravi Bishnoi – and the ones to be picked in the auction.
We wanted the best and we didn’t settle for less. ??#TeamLucknow #IPL2022 @klrahul11 @MStoinis @bishnoi0056 pic.twitter.com/p9oM8M9tHy
— Lucknow Super Giants (@LucknowIPL) January 21, 2022
KL Rahul, picked for 17 crore, will lead Lucknow and is touted to lead India in the future, while Bishnoi is an emerging leg-spinner and is expected to don the blue India jersey one day. There will be other players, too, who would hope to gain the attention of the national selectors by performing well in the IPL.
Gautam Gambhir, however, sternly stated that they only want players who are committed to their franchise and not thinking using IPL performances as a platform towards the national side. He believes that playing from your country will be a byproduct, but the cricketer should be thinking of giving his best for the franchise before.
“When I’ve captained, I have always said I don’t want players thinking of playing for India. I want players thinking of playing for the franchise. Playing for India is just the byproduct,” Gambhir said on the show Backstage with Boria.
“If you think of playing for India and you start saying that Lucknow gives me that platform to play for India, then you are being dishonest to the franchise. But if you were to play for Lucknow and deliver it for Lucknow, eventually you will end up playing for India.”
Speaking further on the same topic, the two-time IPL winning KKR skipper said that the “ultimate aim” for a player during the two months of the IPL should be about bringing glory to his franchise and nothing else.
“So probably in those two months, I would not want any of the players saying or thinking that my job or my ultimate aim is to play for India. Their ultimate aim for those two months is to win the tournament for the franchise. And if they look to do that with their performances, they will eventually go on to play for India.
“And IPL is not a platform to go on to play for India. IPL is a platform to showcase your talent to the world, and that is how players should think about it,” the former batsman concluded.
Apart from Gambhir, Lucknow has appointed former Zimbabwe captain and England coach Andy Flower as their head coach and Vijay Dahiya as their assistant coach.
