Former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir is definitely one of the biggest names in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Under his captaincy, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) managed to win the IPL title in 2012 and 2014. He announced his retirement from all forms of cricket including IPL back in 2018. Barring his amazing credentials as captain, Gambir has achieved many great accolades in the Indian Premier League history especially as a batsman. It is really difficult to leave out a legend like him while counting the best players in the 17 years of IPL history. In this blog piece, check out the complete list of Gautam Gambhir and the IPL teams he has played so far. 

Check out list of Gautam Gambhir IPL Teams

1. Gautam Gambhir - Delhi Daredevils (IPL 2008 - 2010)

Interestingly, Gautam Gambhir started his Indian Premier League career with the Delhi Daredevils (who are now known as Delhi Capitals) as they bought him at a price worth INR 2.9 Crore in the IPL 2008 auction. The southpaw batsman came into this T20 tournament with a giant reputation after having played that phenomenal knock against Pakistan in the inaugural ICC T20 World Cup 2007 final that helped India emerge as the champions. While talking about his performance with the bat in that IPL 2008 season, Gambhir composed an impressive total of 534 runs from 14 matches at a fine strike-rate of 140.89 that included as many as five half-centuries. 

During the IPL 2009 season, Gautam did not had the best of tournaments with the bat having scored 286 runs from as many as 15 games at an average of 22 that consisted of just a single 50+ score. In his last IPL season for the Delhi Daredevils, he ended up scoring 277 runs in 11 matches at an average of 30.77. The legendary Indian cricketer was surely one of the senior players in that Delhi Daredevils squad from years between 2008 - 2010. 

2. Gautam Gambhir - Kolkata Knight Riders (IPL 2011 - 2017)

Gautam Gambhir had his most memorable and staggering years in the Indian Premier League history with the Kolkata Knight Riders. He came into this edition of the IPL after having played that phenomenal match-winning knock of 97 runs in the 2011 World Cup final to help India emerge victorious against Sri Lanka. Kolkata Knight Riders got hold of the 2011 World Cup winner at a price of INR 11.04 Crore. He went on to score 378 runs from 15 matches at an average of 34.36. However, Gambhir then showed his brilliant leadership skills to help the Kolkata Knight Riders win their maiden IPL title in 2012 having defeated Chennai Super Kings in the finals. KKR managed to win as many as 12 games during that season where Gambhir himself managed to score a total of 590 runs at an excellent strike-rate of over 143. 

The former Indian opener notched up 406 runs in the IPL 2013 season. Gambhir once again achieved glory as captain leading the Kolkata Knight Riders towards their second IPL title victory in 2014 having registered an exceptional win over Kings XI Punjab in the final. Despite having scored 501 runs in the IPL 2016 season, the Kolkata Knight Riders released one of the most successful captain in the history of the competition. During his time with KKR, there were many Gautam Gambhir controversies that came into the limelight. 

3. Gautam Gambhir - Delhi Capitals (IPL 2018)

He brought shocking waves from the cricket updates point of view as he made a surprising comeback to the Delhi Capitals in 2018. During that season, Gautam Gambhir IPL Salary was INR 2.80 Crore. However, after a miserable performance in the first six matches of the T20 competition where he managed to compose just 85 runs including a half-century in the first game itself at a below-par average of 17. In a very amusing decision, he decided to drop himself both as captain and player from the playing XI for the rest of the season. Gambhir also refused to take his IPL salary for that year worth INR 2.80 Crore. 

While talking about overall Gautam Gambhir stats in the IPL history, he has notched up 4217 runs from 154 games. After announcing his retirement from all forms of the game in 2018, Gautam Gambhir got associated with many IPL franchises as part of the support staff. He was the mentor of the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in 2022 and 2023. The former IPL captain then shifted as the Kolkata Knight Riders mentor in the ongoing IPL 2024 season.