Two-time Indian Premier League (IPL) winning skipper Gautam Gambhir is all set to lead a new team in 2018 season. With the cash-rich league less than a month away from getting started, all the franchises have begun counting out the best possible permutations and combinations. The auction for this season had been held earlier in January.

Gambhir has a new challenge coming into the Delhi Daredevils squad. The GMR-owned franchise is hoping that the Gauti will change their fortunes. Daredevils had retained Rishabh Pant, Chris Morris, and Shreyas Iyer before the auction.

Also read: Gauti Reveals The Vision Of Delhi Daredevils

Speaking of Pant, the newly appointed DD skipper said that the youngster like Rishabh Pant will be more valuable if he bats at the top of the order. During an exclusive chat with Sportskeeda, Gauti said, “My personal opinion is that if Pant plays in the top three, he’ll give us maximum returns. Pant has had an incredible domestic season, leading Delhi to the Mushtaq Ali T20 triumph as well.”

One of the greatest cricketers of all time, Ricky Ponting will be joining the DD team management as the head coach. Gambhir said if a player is not in good touch, he’ll benefit a lot having the legendary Australian cricketer around. He opined, “He’s a winner and has gone through all sort of situations, has won the World Cup thrice. Despite that, he has had his fair share of ups and downs, both as a player and as a captain. He has led Australia for a considerable amount of time and it’s beneficial for everyone involved if a winner comes into your group.”

Also read: Gautam received a solid reason by KKR for leaving out

Gambhir eventually ended up with his old franchise and hometown club Delhi Daredevils. He had played for the Daredevils earlier from 2008-2010. But he earned a respect as an IPL legend during his successful stint with the Kolkata Knight Riders, where he led the side to two championships and also made them one of the most followed cricketing franchises of all time.

When asked about the challenges he faces as a skipper Gambhir said, “Captaincy in the IPL is a challenge as you have a talented bunch of players. There are eight foreigners but we can only get in four, 16-17 Indian players but we can make only seven of them start. So it is paramount that the players get ample opportunity to showcase their skills.”