Gautam Gambhir, who stepped down as Delhi Daredevils captain in the IPL on Wednesday, said that his lack of runs and the poor run of his team had led to him taking the big decision.
When a team loses five games out of six, things are bound to get rocky. With Delhi Daredevils in IPL 2018, the situation has led to Gambhir stepping down as the team captain and young Shreyas Iyer, who made his international debut late last year, being handed the reins.
Gambhir, who had led Kolkata Knight Riders to two IPL titles, was not retained by the franchise in the 2018 auction and was picked up by Delhi, his home team, who later named him their captain. But bar a last-ball win over Mumbai Indians, who are also on one win from six games, Delhi have won nothing this season.
For his part, Iyer, the 23-year-old Mumbai batsman who has been with the Daredevils since his first IPL season in 2015, said he was going to take the challenge head on.
Gambhir described the decision to promote Iyer as “the way forward for the franchise”, and Iyer added, “I am really loving the responsibility they have put up on me and also the faith they show up on me. I love facing challenges and it’s a great opportunity for me to prove myself.”
Delhi next play Kolkata at home on Friday.
