100 odd runs aren’t worth three crores: Gautam Gambhir on last journey with DD

"I genuinely thought that I didn’t deserve it."

After a fairytale seven-year run for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Gautam Gambhir wanted to embark on a new journey and he left the franchise. The 37-year-old was then picked by Delhi Daredevils (DD) for INR 2.80 crores and was also made the team’s captain, rightly so, bearing in mind his glorious history in the IPL. However, fate had something unkind in store for the Delhi-born cricketer.

He started the tournament with a half-century against Kings XI Punjab at PCA Stadium in Mohali, albeit the knock couldn’t guide his team through to victory. Thereafter, he entered into a slump from which he couldn’t get out. The southpaw could only score 30 runs from the next four innings. To add to his agony, the Daredevils lost most of their matches in the first half of the T20 extravaganza.

I prefer to listen to my heart

Subsequently, he stepped down as the captain after which he didn’t play a single encounter. Mumbai cricketer Shreyas Iyer was appointed as the new skipper. Later, Gambhir said that he would play the entire season for free. Recently, the veteran mentioned the reasons why he didn’t take the money and talked about how he preferred to take each step in his cricketing endeavour.

“Last year, I had a contract of 2.80 crores, but I didn’t take a single rupee from the IPL as I felt that my 100 runs weren’t worth that much amount. It’s a fact. And I’m not saying that I’ve become god by leaving the amount and I genuinely thought that I didn’t deserve it as I couldn’t perform, both as a batsman and captain,” Gambhir was quoted as saying in Sports Tak.

“I would’ve accepted it happily had I been able to serve the needs of the team. Had I accepted the money even after underperforming then I would’ve spent my entire life in guilt. Sometimes when you listen to your heart, you get more clarity about things and hence I prefer to listen to my heart. And had I thought with my mind, I couldn’t have performed well,” he added.

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