Former Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir has stepped down from the captaincy of Delhi Daredevil. After leading Kolkata to two IPL titles, Delhi bought him to the club for 2.8 crore rupees ($418,600) with hopes of seeing him lead the team to glory.

However, the Daredevils now find themselves at the bottom of the table with just two points from a sole win against the Mumbai Indians. As a result, Gautam Gambhir has stepped down the role of captaincy while adding that he takes full responsibility for Delhi’s woes and wasn’t put under any pressure to leave his role.

"I take full responsibility for where we are at the points table," Gambhir said. "I thought I hadn't done enough. I needed to take the responsibility as a leader. I felt this was the right time because we still have a chance. Absolutely my decision. No pressure from the franchise."

Meanwhile, the team have announced that Shreyas Iyer has been appointed as the new captain after the recommendation from Gautam Gambhir himself. The new captain, Iyer, stated that the team could still win the tournament despite their previous failures.

“We still have the potential to win the tournament. We have eight games in hand. There are lots of us who believe."

Team coach Ricky Ponting also spoke about the decision, adding that he understands the position of Gambhir because he himself was in it a few years ago.

"Having been in the same situation many years ago, [I know it is] tough decision to make… to put their hand up and say his performance has not been good enough. I would like to congratulate him for having put the team ahead of himself."

Finally, team owner Hemant Dua stated that the World Cup-winning star will now operate as the player-mentor of the team.

"This is a decision Gautam made on his own. We salute it. He is passionate about making DD win. We are touched. There aren't many such examples in India that a cricketer says my team comes before the individual. He will obviously be around and will mentor Shreyas into captaincy."

Delhi Daredevils will play against Gambhir’s former team Kolkata Knight Riders on 27^th April, 2018.