Gautam Gambhir Will Not Play CLT20 2011 Qualifier; Kallis Named KKR Captain
Sreelata Yellamrazu: Gautam Gambhir will not be attracting criticism immediately in the Champions League Twenty20 2011, not unless the Kolkata Knight Riders qualify for the main tournament although the KKR camp is careful to steer clear of the decision that brought the IPL fr Sreelata Yellamrazu:
Gautam Gambhir will not be attracting criticism immediately in the Champions League Twenty20 2011, not unless the Kolkata Knight Riders qualify for the main tournament although the KKR camp is careful to steer clear of the decision that brought the IPL franchisee at the end of the IPL 4 season. Will Gambhir feature at all in the Champions League Twenty20 2011?
Gautam Gambhir is suffering the after effects of the concussion he suffered in the fourth Test of the India England series. It was what forced him out of the India England ODI series that followed thereafter and there are reports that while Gambhir is consulting a neurologist about the blurred vision and other troubles as a result of the concussion – the result of a missed catch off Kevin Pietersen – there is the remote possibility that Gambhir could be ready to take the field as the tournament progresses and if the Kolkata Knight Riders progress from the Champions League Twenty20 2011 qualifier to the Champions League Twenty20 2011 main tournament.
While Gambhir awaits further prognosis on his fitness and availability, South Africa’s Jacques Kallis will be the interim KKR captain for the Shah Rukh Khan-Juhi Chawla owned team. Kallis made the shift from the Royal Challengers Bangalore to the Kolkata Knight Riders as a result of the IPL 4 reshuffling of players and was in magnificent form in the IPL 4 season, scoring prolifically in the Twenty20 format and getting KKR to the kind of start they have only dreamt of in previous three seasons. Kallis will now take the leadership position with Gambhir on the sidelines.
There were several queries over whether like Harbhajan Singh, Gambhir would indeed turn up for his franchisee in the Champions League Twenty20 2011. Harbhajan Singh, who also missed the India England ODI series with conflicting reasons of an abdominal injury and being dropped, has confirmed his availability for the tournament for the Mumbai Indians, attracting the predictable questions over whether he was rushing back to fitness for the sake of the IPL team.
Gambhir has been no stranger to controversy himself for playing with an injured shoulder with the KKR and the BCCI trading notes on when Gambhir suffered the injury in the first place and whether he participated in the IPL at the expense of playing for India when he eventually pulled out of India’s tour of West Indies where Gambhir was even named the Indian captain for the ODI series.
From the Kolkata Knight Riders’ perspective, the absence of Gambhir, even in the early stages of the tournament, is a big blow because not only does it rob them of the home flavor they would like to elicit from cricket fans that show up to support the only IPL team that finds itself in the qualifying tournament but also, of a crucial batsman in the team as KKR team which is looking to make amends for three listless years in the past.
Gambhir, however, would not only be wary of the criticism his presence would attract after missing the India England series but also, by the danger of making a hasty return to the cirkcet field without making a full recovery, which is also a bone of contention for some of the Indian cricketers on the tour of England.