The Lucknow SuperGiants will look to go better than their playoff performance in the last edition of the Indian Premier League when they take on Mumbai Indians in an eliminator game. Their second appearance in the playoffs, despite losing captain KL Rahul to injury midway through the season, has made former Indian great Sunil Gavaskar make a call on the importance of an Indian support staff.
Saying that the communication aspect of matters were made much easier by an Indian junior player being able to speak freely with a former Indian player or Indian coach, Gavaskar pointed to the record of IPL teams. Out of the 15 titles, 12 were won by teams that were being led by Indians, he said.
Speaking of the influence of Gautam Gambhir, Gavaskar said that the reason players like Ravi Bishnoi, Ayush Badoni and Naveen-Ul-Haq were now thriving was because there is a mentor of the calibre of Gambhir behind them.
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“Look at the progress made by Rinku Singh under Chandu Pandit, the terrific coming back to form of Venkatesh Iyer and Varun Chakravarthy, and Nitish Rana growing as a captain. Under the guidance of Gautam Gambhir, see how Ravi Bishnoi, Ayush Badoni, and Naveen-Ul-Haq are flowering, as also under Ashish Nehra and Hardik Pandya, who invariably find a new player of the match,” wrote Gavaskar in his column for Sportstar.
“That’s simply because communication and reach are easy for the domestic Indian players in these teams. Mind you, there will always be the overseas champ who has a way with young players and can act as a guide and mentor to them. These are rare exceptions and not the norm,” Gavaskar added. Gambhir, who has won the IPL twice, was appointed as the Lucknow SuperGiants mentor last year.