Gambhir steps down as Delhi Daredevils captain, Iyer to lead

New Delhi, April 26

Taking responsibility of Delhi Daredevils’ terrible start, Gautam Gambhir stepped down as captain on Thursday. Young Shreyas Iyer will take over as the captain. Gambhir also decided to forego his entire Rs 2.8 crore salary.
The Delhi team sits at the bottom of the table with one win in six matches. To add to it, Gambhir has been struggling to give his team the right kind of start. Except for his 55 in the opening match, the opener has failed to push on.
“As a leader of the ship I take complete responsibility for where we are on the points table and the performance of the team. I have decided to step down,” Gambhir announced in a press conference flanked by coach Ricky Ponting and Daredevils CEO Hemant Dua.
“I have announced Shreyas Iyer as the next captain and we all feel that he is going to do a very job and he is the right guy to take this team forward,” he added.
Gambhir insisted that the decision to step down was his own.
“It was my decision. I thought that I hadn’t contributed enough and I had to take that responsibility. I feel it was the right time as we are very much in this competition. It was absolutely my decision, no pressure from the franchise,” he said.
Gambhir added that the demoralising loss against Kings XI Punjab on Monday played a part in his decision. But he did not say much when asked about what happens to him as a player
“It is too early for me to decide on that. At the moment it is all about the team. Let me sit down and decide. I still need time to decide on where I go from here,” he said.
Still in the mix?

Gambhir will assume the role of player-mentor and, alongside Ponting, has been tasked to ease Iyer into the captaincy role. It is unclear whether he will open against Kolkata Knight Riders on Friday. Dua said Gambhir’s selection will depend on the selection committee.
Iyer said he was ready for the new challenge. “We still have a lot of potential as a team to win the tournament and we have got eight games in hand and there are lots of us who still believe that we can do something great,” Iyer said.