New Delhi, Oct 7 (IANS): Former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir on Friday will be taking up a broader role in the RPSG group-owned Super Giants' franchises, as their Global Mentor.
Gambhir, who was the team mentor for Lucknow Super Giants reaching the playoffs in their debut season of IPL this year, will also be the mentor of Durban Super Giants franchise in the inaugural edition of SA20 league in South Africa set to start from January 10 next year.
Explaining about Gambhir's elevation as the Global Mentor for Lucknow and Durban franchises in the IPL and SA20 leagues, the official statement from the RPSG Group said with him being one of the sharpest cricketing minds going around in the world, they feel he can not only add value in Indian conditions but across the cricketing map as well.
"In my ideology of a team sport designations don't play much role. At best they are there to facilitate a process to make a team win. As a Global mentor of Super Giants I look forward to some added responsibility. My intensity and passion to win have just got International wings," said Gambhir after his appointment to the role of Global Mentor.
Gambhir, the former left-handed batter, was a member of India's Men's T20 World Cup winning squad in 2007 and ODI World Cup winning squad in 2011, playing critical knocks in the finals of both tournaments. As a captain, he led Kolkata Knight Riders to IPL victories in 2012 and 2014.
"It will be a proud moment to see the Super Giants family leave a global imprint. I thank Super Giants family for showing that faith in me. Guess it's time for some more sleepless nights," he added.
Gambhir played 58 Tests and made 4154 runs, amassing 5238 runs in 147 ODIs and scoring 932 runs 37 T20Is for India. He featured in the IPL since its inception in 2008 till 2018 in which he represented the Delhi Daredevils (now Capitals) and Kolkata Knight Riders in 154 matches, scoring 4217 runs at an average of 31.01, including 36 half-centuries.
He played for Delhi from 2008-10 in the IPL and then played for Kolkata from 2011-17. After being released by Kolkata, Gambhir returned to Delhi in 2018 season, but stepped down from the leadership duties mid-way and handed over the captaincy to Shreyas Iyer.
The RPSG Group, who previously ran the Rising Pune Supergiant team in 2016 and 2017 editions of the IPL, had bought the rights of Lucknow Super Giants for a whopping Rs 7090 crore in October 2021.