As the two bottom-placed teams wrap up a tiring season on Sunday with little success to soothe them, one man who will be fresh and hungry for the last game is Delhi Daredevils’ wicketkeeper batsman C.M. Gautam.
The Karnataka player enjoyed a successful Ranji Trophy season, scoring two double-hundreds and a century, to finish as the third highest run-getter with 943 runs at an average of 117.87. But that mountain of runs was not enough to get him a game in the IPL in the initial stages this season, which left him de-motivated. “I had a fantastic domestic season and thought I will get at least first five games. But it didn’t happen which was little bit de-motivating. I got a couple of chances but couldn’t do well as my feet were not moving at times. I will continue to work harder and prove myself,” said Gautam.
The 27-year-old who earlier played two games this season, put up a brave face despite the team’s debacle.
“Things went wrong with team combination and the batting order at times and we had some close games. But we are motivated to finish it with a win,” said the ex-RCB player.
“It has been great experience for me and it will help me in domestic cricket. Working with Sir Vivian Richards and sharing the dressing room with the likes of Virender Sehwag, Mornie Morkel, David Warner and Mahela Jayawardena has been great,” he said.