Delhi Daredevils had an underwhelming campaign in the just concluded Indian Premier League. They managed to fetch only 5 wins out of the 14 matches and finished the league stage as the bottom-placed team.
Besides the disastrous season as a team, Delhi also lost the services of their skipper Gautam Gambhir midway as he stepped down from the job after playing only 6 matches. Moreover, Gambhir didn’t feature in the playing XI of Daredevils in the remaining 8 games.
While Gauti is yet to disclose the decision behind his captaincy resignation, he recently expressed his disappointment over the team owners’ involvement in the decision making process concerning cricket.
In his latest column for Hindustan Times, Gambhir decoded Chennai Super Kings’ triumphant campaign, stating that unlike other teams MS Dhoni has been given a free hand to lead the pack.
“A lot goes into the world of franchisee cricket. It is an expensive business – franchisee fees, salaries of players and support staff, travel, stay etc. There is one more head that no balance sheet shows: EGO. Most owners are successful outside the business of IPL. Just like cricketers, they hate to lose. But while cricketers can sportingly accept defeat against a better team, team owners are ruthless as they measure everything against Return on Investment (ROI),” Gambhir wrote.
“Given the circumstances, if the owners interfere in on-field matter, can you really blame them? But Chennai Super Kings are different. MS Dhoni is their de-facto cricketing boss. I have heard from Dhoni that no one from corporate side influences any cricketing calls. You can argue that it cuts both ways that since CSK have played record seven finals there is every reason for Dhoni to be given a free hand,” he added.
Just a week ago, Gambhir had shocked the cricketing fraternity saying that he was ready to play every game for Delhi despite giving up the captaincy but he wasn’t picked in the playing XI. And now in his column, Gauti has once again said the same besides providing the rationale behind Delhi’s appalling campaign.
“A lot of people asked me why I didn’t play after stepping down from captaincy. My reply is simple: I would have played had I been picked. A lot of people also ask me where did we go wrong. It is simple again: injuries to key players like Rabada and Morris, inability to build the right team combination, certain players not clicking, the team not playing important moments well and also the inability to handle pressure are all reasons for our failure. I have always believed it is bowlers who win you games whatever be the format. I think we lacked there,” Gambhir concluded.
