Gautam Gambhir says Shah Rukh Khan ‘never questioned’ his decisions at KKR, motivated him during his bad patch: ‘You won’t drop yourself’

“It wasn’t a patch, I couldn’t even score a run! He is the best owner I have worked with. And the reason is not because I am now, or was earlier, part of KKR. I don’t think that in seven years of my captaincy, we’ve had a cricketing conversation for seven minutes, except for that patch which I was going through. At that time also, we had this conversation because I was actually on the verge of dropping myself,” he revealed.

Gambhir said when the superstar got to know about this, he showed incredible support to the cricketer, encouraging him stay on and continue being part of the playing 11. The faith that Khan showed in him, Gambhir said, made him re-focus on the game with new energy, and as things rolled, he overcame this patch successfully.

“The only thing he told me was that, till you are here–and you will be here till you want to be here–you won’t be dropping yourself. I thought as a leader, first and foremost I should have the courage to be a part of the playing 11, I should deserve to be a part of the playing 11. I told him that, and that’s the only conversation I have had in seven years with him when it came to cricket. He told me you will not drop yourself, whatever happens, you will play all the games. And then things turned around.

“So, imagine someone as an owner, who himself has been such a big, great achiever not even talking about cricket, asking you about a single thing about your decision making… He trusted your decision making. I am not saying I have made all the right decisions in those seven years, but he never questioned because that’s the relationship, the trust he had in me,” he added.

Shah Rukh Khan has been actively attending Kolkata Knight Riders matches this season, where his daughter, actor Suhana Khan was also seen at a few games. After a blockbuster 2023, Shah Rukh is set to begin his next film later this year.

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