Kolkata Knight Riders’ Gautam Gambhir is ready to come back and help his side defend their title.
There is good news for Kolkata Knight Riders fans as Indian batsman Gautam Gambhir announces he should be fit for the start of the 2013 IPL season.
Gambhir has been recovering from a bout of jaundice, but the batsman is confident he will be ready to face the Delhi Daredevils in the opening IPL fixture on April 3, after resuming training.
“I started out slowly as I hadn’t played for 10 days, and the fatigue is still there,” the Kolkata star told the Hindustan Times.
“But I should be available for the first match (April 3). We have a long break after that, which should give me enough time to recuperate.”
The 31-year-old captained the Knight Riders to their first IPL title in 2012 and was also the second highest run scorer in the tournament.
Despite featuring regularly for the India Test side, Gambhir missed the historic 4-0 whitewash over Australia after being dropped from the side for the first two matches and then missing the rest of the series through his illness.
The batsman has played 54 Tests for his country to date, scoring 4021 runs at an average of 44.18.
Gambhir’s lack of match practice going into the sixth edition of the IPL does not concern KKR coach Trevor Bayliss however, although he does think there is more expectation being title holders.
“In a way our achievements last year do bring in an extra amount of pressure,” Bayliss said to the Telegraph India.
Iqbal Abdulla, Lakshmipathy Balaji and England batsman Eoin Morgan have already joined up with the KKR squad in Kolkata ahead of the first match next Wednesday.
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