Kolkata appoint Gambhir captain

Gautam Gambhir will be Kolkata Knight Riders' captain for the fourth season of the IPL, the franchise has announced. Gambhir was the most expensive player at the January 2011 auction, bought for $2.4 million, and was the obvious choice as captain, after Sourav Ganguly, who led Kolkata in the first and third seasons, went unsold.

Gambhir has experience as a captain in the IPL; he took over from Virender Sehwag as captain of Delhi Daredevils during the second season, and captained them in the third season as well as in the 2009 Champions League. He has also been captain of India in the absence of MS Dhoni, during India's 5-0 one-day series win against New Zealand in 2010.

The issue of captaincy of Kolkata has raised controversy in the past. In the 2009 season, they announced there would be a rotation system for captains, but eventually Brendon McCullum led them throughout in what was a dismal campaign. Kolkata have struggled in past IPLs: they finished last in the table in the second season and sixth in the other two. They performed well in the auction, though, picking up marquee players like Yusuf Pathan, Jacques Kallis, Eoin Morgan, Shakib Al Hasan and Brett Lee, apart from Gambhir.

"I believe that the KKR management has put together a terrific team and I am looking forward to the season," Gambhir said after he was announced as captain. Kolkata are now the fourth team to appoint a new captain for IPL 4. Virender Sehwag will reclaim the captaincy of Delhi now that Gambhir has moved; new franchise Indi Commandos will be led by Mahela Jayawardene; and Adam Gilchrist was announced as captain of Kings XI Punjab.