'I've not been friends with everyone...': Lucknow mentor Gambhir on Krunal Pandya- Deepak Hooda's equation

The IPL 2022 edition is set to commence on March 26 at the iconic Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. Two new teams in the form of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Gujarat Titans (GT) will look to challenge the eight old franchises for the coveted title.

Ahead of the commencement of the forthcoming season, there is a lot of excitement on some of the newly-formed pairs in all teams. Among them, all eyes are on how Krunal Pandya-Deepak Hooda form a lethal all-round pair for the Lucknow franchise, keeping their differences aside. For the unversed, Hooda and Krunal were involved in a huge controversy during their time at the Baroda team. Back then,Hoodahad accused his state captain Krunal of bullying him. Later, he decided to part ways andquit the team.

Dwelling on their equation, Lucknow's mentor and former IPL-winning captain Gautam Gambhir told PTI, "Look, you don't have to be best friends off the field to perform on it. They are professionals and they know that they have a job to do. You don't have to go out for dinner every night if you are playing in the same team."

“I have not been friends with everyone in every team that I have played in. But that hasn't stopped me from giving my best when I am out there on the field. These are matured people and they know there are here to win matches for Lucknow," Gambhir added.

Talking about the Lucknow team, they have plenty of match-winners such as captain KL Rahul, Quinton de Kock, Marcus Stoinis, Ravi Bishnoi, Jason Holder, Manish Pandey, Krunal, Deepak, etc. and will like to go the distance in their first-ever IPL season. They will open their campaign versus the other debutant, Hardik Pandya-led GT franchiseon March 28 at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.