"You are here because you deserve it" - Yash Thakur on how Gautam Gambhir inspired him to do well for LSG in IPL 2023
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) fast bowler Yash Thakur believes team mentor and former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir's advice helped him perform to his best in the IPL 2023 season.
Thakur picked up 13 wickets in nine games in the IPL 2023 season and bowled some absolutely crucial overs, especially at the death. He was calm under pressure and feels it was Gambhir's pep talk that helped him remain calm.
Speaking to News18 CricketNext, here's what Yash Thakur had to say about his learnings from Gautam Gambhir:
“When I was selected in the auction, I was a bit nervous about playing under Gautam Gambhir’s guidance because I admire him since my childhood days. When I played my first match, he just told me one thing, ‘You are here because you deserve it.’
"He advised me to not take much pressure and play it like any other domestic match. He was always there, whenever anyone needs him he was always there for a chat. He advised me to calm myself which stood out for me in IPL."
Thakur added:
"His approach is very different, he always reminds us that we have to win the trophy and every single game is important in the tournament. He made sure be it an international or domestic player everyone is equal in the team.
"The atmosphere he created in the team was commendable - how can we work out our plans, how can we bounce back? We were like a family."
Yash Thakur on playing under captaincy of KL Rahul and Krunal Pandya
Yash Thakur hailed both captains KL Rahul and Krunal Pandya under whom he featured for LSG this season. While he agreed that both the skippers had their own style of captaincy, Thakur feels it is their aggressive nature that brought the best out of him.
On this, he stated:
“KL Rahul and Krunal Pandya are aggressive captains. As a bowling group, they always want us to dominate the opposition batters, so it was not really difficult for us after Rahul was injured as KP bhai was also aggressive in his captaincy, wanting to dominate the opposition.
"I played nine matches and I guess only 2-3 came under Rahul bhai’s captaincy and played majorly under KP bhai. I had a different role with the ball under both captains."
Some brilliant performances in domestic cricket for Vidarbha followed by an impressive IPL season has given Yash Thakur the recognition he deserves.