Two-time IPL winning captain Gautam Gambhir stated that not promoting Suryakumar Yadav up in the batting order remains his big regret during his time at the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).
Suryakumar Yadav was with KKR from 2014 to 2017. He scored 608 runs in 41 innings at an average of 22.52, while striking at 131.89, batting in the lower-middle order where he played the role of a finisher.
Despite realizing Yadav’s talent and potential, Gautam Gambhir explained he was unable to move him up the order because of the presence of established players like Manish Pandey, Yusuf Pathan, and others.
“The only regret I have is not pushing Suryakumar Yadav at No. 3. There were players like Manish Pandey and Yusuf Pathan, and so we had to always use him as a finisher. A lot of players go on from one franchise to another. From KKR’s point of view, this has to be KKR’s biggest loss, letting go of Suryakumar Yadav,” Gautam Gambhir told Star Sports on Thursday.
“He is someone whom we groomed for four years and then let him go and now he is at the peak of his career. Because we couldn’t give him that position (No. 3), he was not able to get those 400-500 runs in a season, batting at No. 7.”
Someone’s loss is someone else’s massive gain: Gautam Gambhir
Yadav was then bought by Mumbai Indians ahead of IPL 2018. His fortunes changed as he was promoted to the top-order by Rohit Sharma. He has scored 1592 for Mumbai at an average of 33.17. With the help of his scintillating form last season, Yadav broke into India’s T20 side earlier this year. He has also been named in the T20 World Cup squad and is a likely starter.
Gautam Gambhir reckoned KKR’s loss is MI’s big gain in the form of Suryakumar Yadav.
“Someone’s loss is someone else’s massive gain. And that is exactly what happened with Mumbai Indians. KKR let go of him and now he has become a mainstay of MI’s batting line-up,” the former India opener added.
Yadav will be up against his former team, KKR, on Thursday night in Abu Dhabi for a crucial IPL 2021 encounter.
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