The IPL team Kolkata Knight Riders won the IPL title for the third time after defeating Sunrisers Hyderabad in the final match of the tournament and it won’t be wrong to say that the reason behind their victory was the collective effort of the team.
The Australian pacer, Mitchell Starc returned to the IPL after 8 years and KKR bought him at a whopping price of Rs. 24.75 crores but many former cricketers and fans trolled him as he wasn’t able to make any impact with the ball in the first half of the tournament. However, the pacer rose up to the occasion and helped his team in winning the title by playing an important role in qualifier and final match for which he was also adjudged as the Player of the Match in both the matches.
Talking about the trolling that Mitchell Starc faced on social media, the KKR mentor Gautam Gambhir said in an interview, “It doesn’t matter what people say in the outside world or on social media. The experts will judge a player, it’s their profession. People on social media will always do that. But what the players are being told in the dressing room, that’s most important.”
He further added, “We never doubted Mitchell Starc’s ability. We knew he would be an X-factor in the tournament. And what would have been better than standing up and performing in Qualifier 1 and the final? His bowling was terrific. Big players thrive on such occasions. And the money factor is irrelevant. And his price tag wasn’t important to us. Rather we focused on what value he adds to the team.”
Gautam Gambhir also had some advice for the players in regard to the opinions of the experts. He said, “Players should not feel bad about what the experts say. It’s their profession. They will judge on your performance. You score a zero and you will be criticized and if you score a hundred you get praised. People outside the dressing room and their opinions are not important at all.”
Gautam Gambhir certainly makes a good point, what do you say?
