'Welcome back Gambhir' - KKR fans elated as Kolkata's adopted son returns home after six long years

Kolkata’s adopted son and two-time IPL-winning captain Gautam Gambhir finally returns to KKR after six-long years. The southpaw left the franchise in 2017 in order to finish his playing days in Delhi. However, his form dipped and, the cricketer eventually retired from all forms of the game. Following this, Gambhir joined Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in 2021, something that the KKR fans regretted as they wanted him to come back to Kolkata.

In the last couple of years, fans have been very vocal on social media about Gambhir’s possible return, especially after missing out on the playoffs in IPL 2023. Nitish Rana previously teased a possible reunion but nothing seemed concrete with many reports stating that the cricketer will take a break in 2024 to focus on the upcoming general elections.

However, in a twist of events, Gambhir parted ways with the Lucknow franchise and joined Kolkata Knight Riders as their mentor. He thanked LSG for their continuous support in the last couple of years and also expressed his delight to return to KKR, where he has spent seven years as a player and captain.

Under his leadership, the Knight Riders have done extremely well, winning the championship in 2012 and 2014. He led from the front as in 108 matches, the 42-year-old has scored 3036 runs at a strike rate of 124.32. More so, he built a team that was always in the race to win the championship. Things have changed after he left as KKR have been extremely inconsistent in the recent past.

Thus, the franchise was eager to bring him back into the set-up and after a long discussion, he finally signed the contract. The former India international will be working closely with Chandrakant Pandit, head coach of KKR and the other coaching staff. Meanwhile, he now has the massive task of picking the correct players for the next season as the trading window will be closing soon while the IPL auction is just a couple of weeks away.

Here's how Twitter reacted to Gautam Gambhir's return to KKR: