IPL 2019: Delhi Daredevils likely to release Gautam Gambhir

As far as the Indian Premier League (IPL) is concerned Gautam Gambhir has had memories to cherish. After playing for Delhi Daredevils (DD), he made a move to the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), a franchise for which he plied his trade for seven years. The left-handed batsman didn’t let his team and the supporters down as he captained the Knights to a couple of title victories.

However, prior to the auction of the last season, the 37-year-old ended his association with the Knight Riders and he was picked up by the Daredevils for INR 2.80 crore. Moreover, the Delhi cricketer was also made the captain of the franchise, bearing in mind his records in the T20 tournament. A lot was expected of him, being one of the team’s most experienced players.

A rough season for the Daredevils

After ten months, he is most likely to be released by the franchise as per reports in Mumbai Mirror. He didn’t have the best of seasons last time around. He played the first six matches in the event and couldn’t quite step up, both as the captain and a batsman. Under him, the Daredevils could only win one match against Mumbai Indians (MI) at the iconic Wankhede Stadium.

He was impressive with the bat in hand, having scored 55 runs against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in the Daredevils’ opening encounter, but could only muster 30 runs in the next five matches. Gambhir ended up scoring 85 runs in six matches at an average of 17. The experienced campaigner also stepped down from leadership and Shreyas Iyer was named as the new skipper.

Thereafter, he didn’t play a single match and Ricky Ponting, the franchise’s head coach, mentioned that Gambhir himself decided to sit out. Nevertheless, Gambhir had a different story and he mentioned that he didn’t opt out of the playing eleven.

“I never dropped myself from the playing XI. If that was the case, then I would’ve announced the retirement as well. A lot of cricket is still left in me,” he previously remarked.

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