Not long after the news broke that Dinesh Karthik had handed over captaincy of Kolkata Knight Riders to Eoin Morgan, former KKR captain Gautam Gambhir posted a cryptic tweet.
In his tweet, Gambhir said: “It takes years to build a legacy but a minute to destroy it.” It’s unclear whether Gambhir was referring to Karthik stepping down, but the timing of his post made it curious.
Gambhir is KKR’s most succesful captain, leading them to the IPL titles in 2012 and 2014, in a seven-year stint at the franchise. However, he left the side in 2018, after telling them he wanted to pursue a new challenge, and joined Delhi Daredevils.
JUST IN!
Agree with the move?https://t.co/uLS2fZB66D
— Wisden India (@WisdenIndia) October 16, 2020
In a move that has echoes of what KKR are going through now under Karthik, Gambhir had a difficult IPL 2018 season, when he struggled so badly, he stepped down as captain and offered to forgo the fee the franchise owed him. Shreyas Iyer took charge of Delhi captaincy, and they’ve been on an upward curve since.
On Twitter, fans didn’t know what to make of his tweet. Some believed it had something to do with KKR’s captaincy move.
I think Its about kkr new captain topic
— #DADA 🙏 #NTR 💗 (@Dada_NTR) October 16, 2020
Others thought it had to do with Gambhir’s incumbent position as a BJP MP in Delhi.
You talking about yourself, dude? The legacy you built for years as a cricketer was destroyed in a minute when you joined BJP.
— Silencio (@hay_banda) October 16, 2020
Meanwhile, given Harbhajan Singh, the former India spinner, had just hours earlier tweeted a similarly cryptic tweet, some thought it was all linked.
Can someone explain what's happening? I'm really curious after Bhajji's and Gautham's tweet
— Nenokkad1ne (@Nenokkad1ne) October 16, 2020
By the end of it all, everyone was none the wiser.