Gautam Gambhir receives praise post winning LLC 2; fans say 'best captain India never had'

Gautam Gambhir-led India Capitals beat Bhilwara Kings to win the second edition of the Legends League Cricket on Wednesday. India Capitals defeated Bhilwara Kings by a massive margin of 104 runs to become the latest champions of the T20 tournament. Gambhir, who was the captain of the India Capitals, is now receiving a lot of praise on social media for leading the side to their maiden LLC title win. Netizens are comparing the victory to Gambhir's title-winning run with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in IPL 2012 and IPL 2014.

Cricket fans praise Gambhir's captaincy

It was under Gambhir's captaincy that Kolkata Knight Riders won two titles in the Indian Premier League. KKR became the IPL champions for the first time in 2012 by defeating Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the final. They repeated the feat in the 2014 edition of the cash-rich tournament, where they beat Kings XI Punjab in the final. To date, Gambhir remains the side's leading run-scorer and the most successful captain. KKR has played only one final after Gambhir's exit from the side but hasn't won a single title since then. 

India Capitals vs Bhilwara Kings

As far as the Legends League Final is concerned, Bhilwara Kings won the toss and elected to field first at Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. Batting first, India Capitals scored 211/7 in 20 overs courtesy of some incredible knocks from former New Zealand batter Ross Taylor, ex-Australian pacer Mitchell Johnson, and former West Indies cricketer Ashley Nurse. While Taylor smashed 82 off 41 balls, Johnson and Nurse scored 62 and 42 runs, respectively. 

Rahul Sharma and Monty Panesar played a crucial role with the ball for the Kings but their effort went in vain after Taylor, Johnson, and Nurse put on some important runs for India Capitals. While Rahul picked a four-wicket haul, Panesar scalped two wickets to his name. 

In the second innings, Pawan Suyal, Pravin Tambe, and Pankaj Singh picked two wickets each to put Bhilwara Kings in trouble. Shane Watson top-scored for the Kings with his 27 off 19 balls but was run out by Johnson in the 11th over. Jesal Karia also contributed with 22 off 17 balls before being removed by Liam Plunkett. None of the other batters for Kings were able to cross the 13-run mark. The Kings were eventually bowled out for 107 runs in 18.2 overs. Taylor was named the player of the match for his outstanding knock. 

Image: Instagram/GautamGambhir/Twitter/KKR