Gautam Gambhir offers prayers at Kolkata's Kalighat Temple ahead of India-England clash
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Kolkata/IBNS: Indian cricket head coach Gautam Gambhir on Tuesday visited the Kalighat Temple in Kolkata ahead of his team's inaugural T20 match against England in the city on January 22.
Gambhir offered prayers at the Maa Kali temple on Tuesday.
His association with Kolkata has been long.
VIDEO | Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) offers prayers at Kalighat Temple, #Kolkata.
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) January 21, 2025
India will play against England in the first match of the T20 series at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, tomorrow. Beginning with the Eden T20I, the two teams will fight it out in a… pic.twitter.com/frPanegCyJ
Apart from playing as an international cricketer for years, the southpaw was the captain of Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for multiple seasons.
Gambhir led KKR to two IPL trophy wins in 2012 and 2014.
In 2024, the former cricketer returned to the beleaguered IPL side as a mentor and powered the team to another trophy.
India will take on England on Wednesday in the backdrop of the massive criticism the national team is facing over consecutive losses.
Gambhir's journey as the head coach started with an upset after first losing the series against Sri Lanka, then a whitewash against New Zealand at home followed by 1-3 defeat in the Border Gavaskar Trophy in Australia.
The T20 series against England will be key to the side ahead of the Champions Trophy which will be held in February-March.