On Friday (April 27), Delhi Daredevils dropped their ex-captain, Gautam Gambhir for the clash against Kolkata Knight Riders. Delhi’s new skipper Shreyas Iyer confirmed Gambhir’s exclusion from the team’s playing XI during the toss.

Earlier this week, Gambhir had stepped down as skipper in the wake of team’s poor performance.
Gambhir was bought by DD in the player auctions in January, and soon after made captain of a team that was expected to break its IPL trophy drought. But the Daredevils have flattered to deceive, with the team losing five out of six games so far to be rooted to the bottom of the table.

Gambhir’s form too has been a major cause for worry. He started the season on a brilliant note, scoring 55 against Kings XI Punjab but after scoring in only single digits in the next five innings.
The last game Gautham Gambhir missed in IPL was against Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2010.


“I take full responsibility for the position we are in. And looking at the position, I have decided to step down as captain. Iyer will take over. I still feel we have the team to turn things around this IPL,” Gambhir said while addressing the media in Delhi on Wednesday (April 25).

“Absolutely my decision. I was the one who initiated the meeting (with the team owners). I thought that I haven’t contributed enough and at the same time, the performance of the team… I had to take the responsibility being the leader of the ship. So I feel that it was the right time.

“We’re very much in this competition. It was absolutely my decision, no pressure from the franchise, they’ve been absolutely sportive about it, sometimes when your conscience says it’s the right time you just take that (call),” added Gambhir, the two-time IPL winning captain with KKR.

This is how twitter reacted after dropping him :

Don’t agree with the decision to leave @GautamGambhir out. Should have allowed him to play freely without the pressure of captaincy. @DelhiDaredevils

— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) April 27, 2018

Gautam Gambhir’s 122-match streak of representing his teams in the IPL comes to an end. No other player captained in 122 straight IPL matches for the teams they played. #IPL2018 #DDvKKR

— Sampath Bandarupalli (@SampathStats) April 27, 2018

I would’ve played Gambhir in tonight’s game. He’s #DD’s best player vs Spin. #KKR have plenty of them. He isn’t the first or the only batsman to fail in four innings this #IPL #MyThoughts #DDvKKR

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) April 27, 2018

KKR on the field..
DD on the field..
Gambhir not on the field..

— Broken Cricket (@BrokenCricket) April 27, 2018

Yesterday Yuvraj today Gambhir these IPL franchise have nothing to do with players standard they don’t respect players they means only business #IPL

— ßєคɾɖ Guყ 🇮🇳🏏 (@BeingFlicked) April 27, 2018

Only player to lead in 122 straight IPL games for the teams he played. But unfortunately, it came to an end on a sad note to be precise.
“Thank you Gautam Gambhir” for your service as a champion leader. #DDvKKR #DDvsKKR @DelhiDaredevils @GautamGambhir pic.twitter.com/NEhhqT1aG1

— Khurram Siddiquee (@iamkhurrum12) April 27, 2018

Iyer dropped Gautam Gambhir. He is all set to become next Dhoni. #DDvKKR

— Akshay (@AkshayKatariyaa) April 27, 2018

And by the way, when I think about Gautam Gambhir, I will not remember him for the fact that he was dropped by a franchise team in a league T20 tournament. I will remember him for scoring 97 high quality runs at the biggest stage of them all.

— Abhishek (@Sajjanlaunda) April 27, 2018

Ohh Delhi , I badly i want to see you loosing . And being at the bottom of table for always .if you don’t respect your Captain ,how would you respect your fans .

— Parth dubey (@parthdubey19) April 27, 2018

So no Gambhir today. Makes sense I guess since the issue was with his batting form not his captaincy.

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) April 27, 2018

There are 3 quality spinners in the opposition and they have dropped @GautamGambhir in a home game!! Slow Claps for the Team Management!! #Gambhir #DDvKKR

— Anshuman S. Reuben (@anshumanreuben) April 27, 2018