-Sports desk
“The jersey you wear is your biggest motivation. If a player is not motivated by that, there is no power in the world that can motivate him or her.” These were the words of Gautam Gambhir, at the unveiling of the new jersey of the Lucknow Super Giants in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.
The mentor of the UP-based IPL franchise was of course not only referring to the jersey designed by Kunal Rawal and inspired by the works of the famous Dutch graphic artist Maurits Escher. He was talking about what in general should keep players going at the top level and what do they fall back on when the chips are down. And when these words come from a double World Cup winner who led Kolkata Knight Riders to two IPL titles, one better listens.
The jersey was formally unveiled by BCCI secretary Jay Shah, with Lucknow Super Giants owner Sanjiv Goenka, captain KL Rahul and Gambhir. Some of the players including Jaydev Unadkat, Krunal Pandya, Avesh Khan, Ravi Bishnoi and Dipak Hooda were present at the well-attended programme. It was beamed lived in Lucknow, Kanpur, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Meerut, Agra, Gorakhpur and Ghaziabad in UP.
Super Giants did well to reach the playoffs in their debut season in 2022 and Goenka said they are thinking about nothing less than doing better this year. Explaining why the unveiling was done in Ahmedabad instead of Lucknow, he said: “We wanted the BCCI secretary to be present. Also, if Rahul and Unadkat had to be present today, this could not be done anywhere else (Rahul and Unadkat are part of the Indian squad for the fourth and final Test against Australia beginning in Ahmedabad on Thursday).”
Looking ahead to the competition which starts on March 31, Rahul said his team would look to make the home advantage count. “I won’t say what kind of pitch we would like to prepare, but it’s a big ground. As in, the dimensions are bigger. Some of us have played there and know the conditions. Obviously, we want to make that advantage count. Overall, we want to play aggressive and fearless cricket so that we get the results we want and the crowds enjoy watching us.”