Gautam Gambhir

Gautam Gambhir's cricketing career has all the trappings of a typical Bollywood flick- the glamour, the drama, the passion, the chutzpah, the wrangles, and of course the proverbial acche din and bure din.

Gambhir's journey as a first-class cricketer began in the 1999-2000 season. But, it was a couple of years later, in 2002, that the Delhi lad first stole the spotlight. Then playing for the Board President's XI against a touring Zimbabwe team, the left-hander smashed a double century scoring 218 runs. A year later, came the big moment: Gambhir secured his place in the Indian team for the TVS Cup, a triangular fixture.

Not as gifted as some of his contemporaries, initially Gambhir had to grin and bear it when selectors would just choose to overlook him. However, what separated him from the pack was his passion for the game and an almost insatiable appetite for runs.

At the topmost level, the stakes are high. Bowlers keep an eye out for even the minutest of shortcomings in the best of batsmen. And Gambhir had a chink in his otherwise formidable armour: His front foot would fall over a bit, which often made him an easy LBW prey to quality fast bowlers. This flaw in the technique proved to be the recurrent glitch that kept his bat quiet between 2003 and 2006. Having fixed the fault, Gambhir was again in the reckoning, scoring enough to stake a claim for a place in India's 2007 ODI World Cup squad. But, the selectors thought otherwise. They preferred to instead go with hard-hitting right-hander Robin Uthappa, who had, under his belt, some match-winning knocks at the top of the order.

The rejection severely jolted Gambhir, who even contemplated quitting the game. But, destiny had other plans in store for him. The same year in September, Gambhir was called back to open the batting with his Delhi mate Virender Sehwag for the T-20 World Cup. He grabbed the opportunity with both hands.

In the high-voltage final against Pakistan, Gambhir showed nerves of steel scoring 75 runs that made all the difference. He was the second highest scorer in the tournament with 227 runs in the 7 innings. After that feat, Gambhir always enjoyed the backing of skipper MS Dhoni, but failed to break into the team. It was sheer hard luck, as legends of the game like Tendulkar still graced the Indian top-order.

Gambhir was on the top of his game between 2008 and 2011. Always looking aggressive on the field, he hit the purple patch in those years scoring big and often match-winning knocks. In the 2008 CB series Down Under, Gambhir blazed a trail when he outscored the likes of Sachin, Ponting and Sangakara to emerge as the highest run-scorer of that ODI tri-series. Soon, Gambhir cemented his place in the ODI team, filling the big shoes of iconic left-hander Sourav Ganguly. The spectacular showing in the ODIs, earned him a place in the Test team, too.

Having scored his first Test century against Bangladesh at Chittagong in 2004 , it took Gambhir almost four years to score his second test ton. But the third one came only nine days after. Of his 9 test centuries, the one he scored at Napier in New Zealand in 2009 will be remembered for long. Batting for a staggering 643 minutes, Gambhir showed grit deploying his stoic defence and scoring a match-saving 137 runs.

By 2009, Gambhir had established himself as one of the top batsmen in International cricket. The same year, he received the prestigious ICC Test Cricketer of The Year award. Two years later, his decisive knock in the final of the 2011 ODI World Cup, which India won, made him a national hero of sorts.

Post -2011 World Cup, many even saw Gambhir as next-in-line to MS Dhoni. But then came the slide in his fortunes. One bad series was followed by another, runs dried up and questions begun to be asked of his technique. In the 17 Test matches between 2011 and 2012, he averaged just 31. Eventually, he faced the axe.

Between 2007 and 2011, Gambhir had done enough with the bat to stamp his name in bold letters in the history of Indian cricket as one of the best left-handed batsmen to have played for India across all formats.

In 2014 and 2016, Gambhir made two short comebacks to the test team, but could never simply get his act together. During this phase, even though Gambhir was struggling in the International arena, he was among the most valued players in the IPL.

KKR paid a handsome sum of Rs 11 crore in the IPL auction in 2011. Taking up the cudgels, Gambhir revamped the fortune of a struggling team, leading them to famous IPL title wins in 2012 and 2014.

Now, in the 2018, Gambhir will again be seen in action with Delhi Daredevils.

By Varun Dixit

As of 6th April 2018