Gautam Gambhir’s Kolkata Knight Riders team made history when they bundled out Royal Challengers Bangalore for the lowest-ever total (49) in the IPL at their home ground on Sunday.
The entire cricket fraternity praised the four fast bowlers – Nathan Coulter-Nile, Umesh Yadav, Chris Woakes and Colin de Grandhomme – who ensured that not a single RCB batsman scored double figures. Kedar Jadhav top-scored for Bangalore with 9 runs.
The Knight Riders made an incredible comeback after being bowled out for 131 runs while batting first.
The fast bowlers may have stolen the show in a glorious night at the Eden Gardens, but one man’s inputs went unnoticed.
Skipper Gautam Gambhir made an inspiring speech during the mid-innings break.
In a column for Hindustan Times, Gambhir wrote:
For the first time in my seven years with KKR, I was fuming. The loss against Gujarat Lions was still haunting. On the back of that, we collapsed from 65 for 1 to 131 all out against RCB. It was unacceptable.Gautam Gambhir
After one of their worst batting performances, Gambhir couldn’t hold himself back and said that whoever dropped their intensity would never play for Kolkata again.
I started speaking and let go of all I had. I wanted intensity from my teammates. I wanted them to fight. I wanted them to win. I told them whoever dropped on intent should understand that this could be his last game for KKR, at least in my captaincy.Gautam Gambhir
Gambhir wrote in his column that he is usually easy-going with his teammates but on this occasion, the 35-year-old wanted a special performance from his side.
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