Back in 2012, Kolkata Knight Riders, like this season, was in Chennai for their first IPL final. On the eve of meeting defending champions CSK in their den, Gautam Gambhir, the coach now and captain then, needed to take one very difficult call. He was keen to have Manvindra Bisla as his opening partner but for that he needed to keep Brendon McCullum out. Who drops the original Bazballer, IPL’s first brand ambassador for an uncapped out-of-form 20-something Jat boy from Hisar for the final? Well, Gambhir does.

It wasn’t a popular decision, even McCullum had expectedly sulked. Opinions and the mood would change by late evening when Bisla was in the middle of the innings of his life. Years later, Bisla, now a part of IPL’s Haryanvi commentary panel, still gets asked about his match-winning 48-ball 89 which had five sixes that helped KKR win the first title. Others in the box, Indian and foreign TV pundits, while hyping the play-off frenzy, have been talking about Gambhir’s courage to treat stars as commoners and how this very non-Indian mindset has played a role in making KKR great again. He has also done something more significant. Read on.