Gautam Gambhir: Biography of India's Underrated Legend

The Indian Cricket Team last won its major ICC trophy in 2013 and since then never managed to make any impact of the biggest stage. They even built an iinvincible looking team for the 2023 ODI world Cup, but only to get beaten by the Australian Team in the Final, a complete heartbreak! In all these years, there has been one issue that has remained the Achilles heel of the Indian Cricket Team, and that was that the top order never turned up with it’s A game in the match. Be it the 2017 Champions Trophy Final versus Pakistan or the 2019 World Cup Semi Final against New Zealand. But prior to that, there was always one player who turned up to his best and performed for the team. Be it with the aggressive batting in the 2007 ICC T20 World Cup Final against Pakistan or the match winning 97 runs against Sri Lanka in the 2011 World Cup Final. And that player, is one of the finest left handed batsman, Gautam Gambhir,  or GG. Don’t get me wrong, there were player in those tournaments too who made important runs for the team, like Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni and other, but the heroics that Gambhir showed in those two finals were at another level. 

Credit: Quora

In this article by ZAP, lets dive deep into the life and career of Gautam Gambhir and understand what made him such a special cricketer. 

Gautam Gambhir’s early life and Introduction to Cricket:

Gautam Gambhir, often called as Gauti or GG was born into a Punjbai Family on 14th October, 1981 in Delhi and started playing cricket at the age of 10 years. He joined the Lal Bahadur Shastri cricket academy, One of the best cricket academies in India at a very young age and was coached by the head coach Sanjay Bharadwaj. His promise in cricket was seen from a very young age, and at 19 years of age, was selected for the first intake of the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore in 2000.

Gautam Gambhir’s International Debut and Indian Cricket Team Career:

Early Career:

Gautam Gambhir played his first One Day International (ODI) match against Bangladesh in the year 2003, and just the next year was also selected for the Test Match Side making his debut in 2004. After that, he was dropped from the Test side for a couple of year, but between 2005 and 2007, Gambhir featured in several One Day International matches for India. A low point came early on in his career when he was not chosen for the 2007 World Cup because the selection committee decided to go with Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag, and Sachin Tendulkar in the top order lineup. Gambhir subsequently stated, "There were times I didn't want to play anymore after I got dropped for the World Cup. It affected me badly. I didn't want to practise. I couldn't motivate myself."

But as they say, the comeback is always greater than the setback. This is what GG’s career was all about. 

2007 ICC T20 World Cup:

Credit: India TV News

Following India's humiliating World Cup elimination in just the first round, Gambhir was picked for the One Day Internationals during India's 2007 tour of Bangladesh. Gambhir hit a century during the series, and proved everyone his worth. 

After great performances that year, he was picked in the 2007 ICC T20 World Cup Squad in South Africa, where a young Indian Team did wonders. There are so many amazing stories to tell about that tournament, like the 6 sixes by Yuvraj Singh, or that MS Dhoni Masterclass of a Gamble to give the last over of the final to Joginder Sharma, that the contribution of Gambhir goes unnoticed. He scored 227 runs for the team which had three 50+ scores including the match defining 75 runs in the Finals against Pakistan. India won the tournament with Gambhir as one of the standout players in the tournament.

Gautam Gambhir’s Best Years:

Gautam Gambhir hit his peak form in 2008. He was outstanding in the CB Series in 2008, scoring a a match-saving century and a career-best 113 against Australia at the Gabba. He also emerged as the series' top run scorer. Gambhir's run of impressive performances, which included a double century against Australia, cemented his spot in the Indian Test team.

He was named the 2009 ICC Test Player of the Year and held the No. 1 spot for Batsmen in the ICC Rankings. He was instrumental in India's victories over Sri Lanka and New Zealand in the Test series. He also remained unbelievably consistent scoring fifty runs or more in eleven straight games, along with five straight centuries in Test cricket. 

2011 ICC ODI Cricket World Cup:

And then came the 2011 ICC ODI Cricket World Cup, which was held in India. The Indian Cricket Team was a force to be reckoned with in that tournament and reached the finals by defeating Arch Rivals Pakistan in the Semis. They faced Sri Lanka and while chasing 275, we lost two early wickets of Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag, and our batting lineup needed rock solid partnership after the two early wickets. Gautam Gambhir steadied the ship of the Indian batting along with Virat Kohli, and went on to score a heroic 97 runs, which proved a match winning score for India. That inning once again went unnoticed and a bit underrated but also remains one of the most important innings by a batter for India. Even though he could get to his 100, his 97 were any day more avuilabkle than reaching that 3 figure mark. 

Then beyond that, his Test form declined, but his ODI performance remained strong, leading to his inclusion in the World ODI XI by the ICC in 2012.

Comeback to the Team:

After a string of struggling with form and being on and off in the national side, Gambhir was called up, for the Test-Match series against New Zealand on October 8, 2016, due to his strong performance in domestic cricket.

Gautam Gambhir Retirement and Last Match:

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Gambhir declared his retirement from all forms of cricket in December 2018, before his last Ranji Trophy game for Delhi against Andhra Pradesh. In his last ever innings, Gambhir scored 112, which was also his 43rd century in first-class cricket. In 2019, Gautam Gambhir took the oath of office as a Member of the Lok Sabha, beginning in a new chapter in his life and career.

Gautam Gambhir Test, ODI and T20 Cricket Records:

Format	Matches Played	Runs Scored	Highest Score	Strike Rate	Batting Average	100s	50s
Tests	58	4154	206	51.49	41.95	9	22
ODIs	147	5238	150*	85.25	39.68	11	34
T20Is	37	932	75	119.02	27.41	0	7

Gautam Gambhir IPL Career:

Credit: Hindustan Times

Gautam Gambhir's Indian Premier League (IPL) career of  is a remarkable story, marked by his outstanding leadership and batting performances. At the first IPL player auction, he was picked by the Delhi Daredevils for an astounding $725,000. In the inaugural season, he emerged as the second-highest run-scorer with 534 runs from 14 matches. In the 2011 IPL Auction, he became the most expensive player with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) splashing $2.4 million (about 18-19 Crore in today's value) for him. Gambhir was also named the team's captain, and he performed excellently in his role. Under Gambhir's leadership, KKR saw its greatest highs. They qualified for the IPL playoffs for the first time. In 2012, he led the KKR squad to overpower the reigning champions Chennai Super Kings in to win their maiden IPL trophy. Then again in 2014, They beat King XI Punjab in the Finals to win their second trophy. Gambhir's consistency with the bat in the IPL made him the all-time leading run-scorer for the Kolkata Knight Riders, amassing 3375 runs during his stint with the franchise. He set several records, including being the second player to cross the 2000-run mark in IPL history. Then after leading KKR until 2017, he returned to his first team Delhi Daredevils in 2018 and played his final IPL season there before taking his retirement. For the runs he has scored, the titles he has won, and the impact he has had on KKR, there’s no denying that he is one of IPL’s biggest legends.

Gautam Gambhir IPL records:

Year	Team	Matches Played	Runs	Highest Score	Strike Rate	Average	50s
2008	Delhi Daredevils (DD)	14	534	86	140.89	41.07	5
2009	DD	15	286	71*	102.87	22.00	1
2010	DD	11	277	72	127.64	30.77	2
2011	Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)	15	378	75*	119.24	34.36	2
2012	KKR	17	590	93	143.55	39.33	6
2013	KKR	16	406	60	118.36	25.37	4
2014	KKR	16	335	69	114.33	22.33	3
2015	KKR	13	327	60	117.62	25.15	3
2016	KKR	15	501	90*	121.89	38.53	5
2017	KKR	16	498	76*	128.02	41.50	4
2018	DD	6	85	55	96.59	17.00	1
Career	DD+KKR	154	4217	93	123.88	31.24	36

Gautam Gambhir Playing and Batting Style:

Credit: Hindustan Times

Gautam Gambhir was a brilliant left handed batsman and could any role required of him. He was one of the Indian Cricket Team’s best performing batsmen during 2008 and 2012 and opened the innings  or played in the top three in all formats of the game. He had a technically astute batting and is known as one of the batsmen who played spin bowling the best. His cover drive, flick shot and cut shot were all a thing of beauty. When required, he could even bat more aggressively than Virender Sehwag and could even defend for his life, like Rahul Dravid. And just like Sachin Tendulkar, he could continue scoring runs with a moderate strike rate without taking any risk.

Gautam Gambhir: The Astute Captaincy

One of Gambhir's strengths as a captain was his aggressive and attacking approach. He was also an expert at correctly analyzing the game and altering his bowling style and setting the fielding positions. Also, he was a captain who backed his underperforming players by creating a very positive and supportive team environment.

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