Gautam Gambhir on Wednesday stepped down as Delhi Daredevils captain, saying he just could not handle the pressure of the job. Shreyas Iyer replaced him in the position but Gambhir will continue to be a part of the team that has lost four of its five matches so far and is placed bottom of the table at the eighth position.
“May be I was too desparate to turn things around and that can backfire. It could be the reason.
“I just couldn’t handle the pressure and when you don’t do that, you have to own that up as a leader,” Gambhir said in a press conference also attended by franchise CEO Hemant Dua and coach Ricky Ponting.
“I was sitting alone and thinking, I couldn’t handle the pressure... I was not good enough and that is all,” he added.
Given the expectations that surrounded Gambhir’s return to his home team, Delhi’s form has been patchy, to put it mildly. The perennial underachievers in the IPL were hoping for a turnaround in fortunes with Gambhir as captain and Ponting as coach, but the results were not there to show for it. And the worst part, as Michael Clarke observed during the last game for the broadcaster, Delhi looked like a side who simply didn’t know how to win.
Gambhir clarified in the press conference and later on Twitter that it was entirely his decision.
There were plenty of emotional responses from fans of the game, given the respect Gambhir has for his leadership skills.
Of course, there was no dearth of humour as well...
But maybe this could be a good omen for Delhi fans?
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