IPL 2018: 3 possible reasons why Gautam Gambhir went to Delhi Daredevils for peanuts
In this year’s IPL auction, KL Rahul went to Kings XI Punjab for 11 crores, Manish Pandey went to Sunrisers Hyderabad for 11 crores but Gautam Gambhir went to Delhi Daredevils for 2.2 crores. This stark contrast between their prices leaves one wondering, “Is Gambhir a batsman of any less pedigree than Rahul or Pandey that there is a five-fold difference between their prices?”
Accepted that this was self-inflicted as it was Gambhir who wanted to go back to his city franchise, but still, how can the difference be so startling? How can a champion opening batsman and a two time title-winning Captain remain content with a price that is so unbecoming of his stature?
So, after a session of brainstorming, we finally came out with the following three reasons which somewhat justify why Gautam Gambhir went to Delhi Daredevils for peanuts.
#1 Obligation to be made captain
Gautam Gambhir is certainly captaincy material and has an innate flair for leadership. Therefore, if any other team had gone for him, they would have had to consider him for the skipper’s role. Given that most teams already have leaders like MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, David Warner and Steve Smith, there was no room to fit Gambhir in.
There was a possibility for a team like Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) to go for the Delhi Ranji Trophy opener but if they had picked him and made him the captain, their entire strategy would then have to revolve around him. In such a situation, there were chances of ego clashes between Gambhir and Sehwag, who is the mainstay of the KXIP think tank.
It is an open secret that the former Delhi teammates don’t share the best of bonds and have been vocal about the same on social media. Sehwag also did not share a workable rapport with former KXIP Captain Glenn Maxwell.