Gautam Gambhir Pays Tribute to KKR’s Purple, Aims to Write “Bolder Scripts” With “Treasured India Blue” - Watch

Add as a preferred source on Google

Gautam Gambhir on Tuesday (July 16) paid tribute to Kolkata Knight Riders' purple as he aims to write "bigger and bolder scripts" in the "treasured India blue" ahead of his first assignment as head coach of the Indian cricket team.

Gambhir, who returned to KKR earlier this year and guided them to the title, was announced as the new head coach of Team India, replacing batting legend Rahul Dravid, on July 9 by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

As he prepares to take on his new role of the nationa team, Gambhir took to X, sharing a heartwarming video with a message showing his close relationship with Kolkata, a franchise he took to two IPL titles as a captain as well.

Though Gautam acknowledged that he and Kolkata "are a story, are a team", there are more "bigger legacies" to be made together, "bigger and bolder" scripts to be written with him being part of the Indian cricket team coaching set-up.

"I smile when you smile. I cry when you cry. I win when you win. I lose, when you lose. I dream when you dream. I achieve when you achieve. I believe with you and I become with you. I am you, Kolkata, I am just one of you," said Gambhir in his video message.

"I know your struggles and I know where it hurts. The rejections have crushed me but like you, I wake up embracing hope. I get beaten every day but like you, I am yet to be defeated. They tell me to be popular, I tell them to be a winner. I am you, Kolkata I am just one of you.

"This Kolkata air talks to me. The sounds, the streets here, the traffic jams. They all convey how you feel. I hear what you say, but I know what you mean. I know you are emotional. So am I. I know you're demanding. So am I. Kolkata, we are a bond. We are a story. We are a team."

Once he finished narrating his emotional connect with the city of Kolkata, Gambhir told the KKR fans the time has come to write bigger and bolder scripts in the India blue.

"And now the time has come when we have to create some legacies together. The time has come when we have to write some bigger and bolder scripts. The script not with purple ink but in that blue, the treasured India blue," he added.

"As we both take our fresh card we promise each other that we will never walk alone. It will always be shoulder-to-shoulder, hand in hand. It will all be for the tricolor. It will all be about our India."

Dravid's tenure finished with trophy drought ending T20 World Cup win. Now, fans are looking forward to see Gambhir take forward Team India on a trophy-winning spree with same aggressive, winning and never-give-up mentality after his stint with KKR.

The former India opener's first assignment as the head coach of Team India will be in the upcoming tour to Sri Lanka, where the Men in Blue will play six white-ball games - three T20Is and three ODIs.