Kolkata Knight Riders mentor Gautam Gambhir reveals that he regrets not joining the Indian Army. Gambhir is one of the successful Indian cricketers and earned accolades in international cricket as well as in Indian Premier League (IPL).
Gambhir was part of the Indian team that won the 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2011 ODI World Cup. He made a vital contribution with the bat in finals of both tournaments. In the realm of IPL, the 42-year-old is the second-most successful captain after Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni as he led Kolkata Knight Riders to two IPL titles in 2012 and 2014.
Despite his success as a cricketer, Gambhir harbours his deep regret for not fulfilling his desire to join the Indian Army. Speaking to Cyrus Boarcha on the podcast 'Knights Dugout', the former Kolkata Knight Riders captain said that the Army always remains his love first love, adding that he thought about joining the National Defence Academy (NDA) when he was in the 11th standard.
"I love the army. That always remains my first love. The only regret is that I couldn't join the army. And I thought about it when I was in the 11th standard. My mom asked me what I wanted to do and I said that I wanted to join NDA. But, the destiny has its own say and I couldn't join the NDA." Gautam Gambhir said.
Gautam Gambhir's love for the Indian Army is out there as his foundation is taking care of the educational expenses of the children of brave martyrs who were killed in the Pulwama Attack in 2019.
'Need to be courageous': Gautam Gambhir's mantra for IPL 2024
Gautam Gambhir returned to Kolkata Knight Riders as a mentor after being in a similar role at Lucknow Super Giants for IPL seasons in 2022 and 2023. The former KKR captain said that the 'most courageous' team goes on to win the tournament. He added that the mantra for this IPL season is be courageous.
"I'm a strong believer that it's not the most talented team that goes on to win big tournaments. It's the most courageous team that's willing to fight till the last drop of blood, will go on to win the IPL. The mantra for the season is we need to be courageous." Gambhir said.
"We should have the courage to be positive all the time. and if you walk that path, I'm very, very bullish about the kind of talent in our dressing room." he added.
Kolkata Knight Riders are having good campaign thus far as they have won four matches out of six games played and currently at the second spot on the points table.
