Dear Gautam Gambhir,
You know it’s been a while since Kolkata Knight Riders made the last ripples in the fabric of the Indian Premier League. Well, people may point out that in 2021, they made the finals and maybe could have even filed a better case for themselves had Rahul Tripathi not been injured.
Well, being very candid, we all know one thing the campaign had its own troughs and crests and the kind of performances that you usually need from your regular finalists, that wasn’t there at all. It was almost an extraordinary display in the second half from three big names, featuring the likes of Venkatesh Iyer, Shubman Gill and Varun Chakravarthy alongside the handful of fragmented displays that were being knitted together.
Once again, keeping aside the emotions, let’s face the facts. In a cricket tournament if half of your fray has gone plotting who should bat at what position, that certainly isn’t a champion team. If half of your cricketing season has gone behind the fact that one of your big muscles has not fired and how do you replace him, that’s not a season for the finalists.
As a KKR fan, when I heard the rumours that there is a remote possibility of the Gautam Gambhir returning to Kolkata Knight Riders as a coach in the near future, my heart skipped a beat.
It didn’t skip a beat because a championship will be guaranteed. An IPL trophy is not what is the need of the hour for the Knights. What is needed for the Purple Brigade at the moment, is that they first fix all the major loopholes in the center.
When we say loopholes, how do you come into the mix? The answer is simple. It’s your razor-sharp wits and blatancy that makes you the perfect fit for the job. The KKR management has been so sloppy that they believed players who would have scaled mountains on their heydays would still drag the team even when they are finished. I mean, it wouldn’t have been surprising if they would have gone for Sir Donald Bradman and Sir Gary Sobers in the auctions if they would have enlisted.
The second reason why you are the fix to KKR’s problems is that the team needs order from chaos. At the moment they operate like a dysfunctional unit, hoping with clasped hands that someone delivers and they can reap the rewards. You being a man of very regimented discipline have previously proven how proper planning can change the entire scenario even when you are up against the best of the tournament.
The third reason that you bring to the platter is the surprise element that KKR has lost long back. Back in 2012 and 2014 when the Knights lifted the trophy, the opposition would be scared even till that final lap unless the job was done, because you out of all people had the cricketing acumen of testing even the best of the game with your sudden maneuvers that they were so not ready for.
Finally, you bring belief. You bring the big match mindsets that the Knights need so much for the time being. You bring that leadership that KKR had long forgotten. They are in desperate need of a leader who can show them the path in the dark. At the moment they are simply a disoriented need groping in the dark and you bring the light.
Gautam Gambhir, I do not know whether the rumours are true or not but if you arrive for the Knights again, I know that times will change. With bated breath and clasped hands, I will wait. Be the messiah again, please.
From a crazy KKR fan
ALSO READ: 4 Reasons Why Gautam Gambhir’s Homecoming Will Be A Blessing For KKR
