Gautam Gambhir

Gautam Gambhir

Personal information
Born	14 October 1981 (age 30) New Delhi, India
Nickname	Gauti
Height	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Batting style	Left-handed
Bowling style	Right arm leg break
Role	Opening- and Top order Batsman
International information
National side	India
Test debut (cap 249)	3 November 2004 v Australia
Last Test	24 January 2012 v Australia
ODI debut (cap 149)	11 April 2003 v Bangladesh
Last ODI	28 February 2012 v Sri Lanka
T20I debut (cap 2)	13 September 2007 v Scotland
Last T20I	11 May 2010 v Sri Lanka
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1999/00–present	Delhi
2008–2010	Delhi Daredevils
2011–present	Kolkata Knight Riders
Career statistics
Competition	Test	ODI	FC	LA
Matches	48	131	133	228
Runs scored	3,712	4,708	10,774	7,807
Batting average	45.26	40.58	52.04	38.08
100s/50s	9/19	10/31	32/48	17/47
Top score	206	150*	233*	150*
Balls bowled	–	6	385	37
Wickets	–	0	7	1
Bowling average	–	–	39.57	36.00
5 wickets in innings	–	–	0	0
10 wickets in match	–	n/a	0	–
Best bowling	–	–	3/12	1/7
Catches/stumpings	33/–	34/–	82/–	62/–
Source: Cricinfo, 30 January 2012

Gautam Gambhir ( pronunciation (help·info); born 14 October 1981) is an Indian cricketer. A left-handed batsman, he made his One Day International debut for India in 2003, and played his first Test the following year. Gambhir had been a prolific run-scorer in domestic cricket with an average of over 50 but his two successive double-hundreds in 2002 (one of them against the visiting Zimbabweans) made him a strong contender for India's opening slot.
Gambhir became only the fourth Indian batsman to score a double century in a tour game at home; the previous three being Sunil Gavaskar, Dilip Vengsarkar and Sachin Tendulkar. He is the only Indian batsman to score more than 300 runs in four consecutive Test series. He is also the only Indian, and one of only four international cricketers, to have scored five hundreds in five consecutive test matches.On July 2009, for a period of ten days he was the number one ranked batsman in ICC Test rankings.

Early life

Gambhir attended Modern School, New Delhi.^[4] Gambhir was selected in 2000 for the first intake of the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore.^[5] He married Natasha Jain, who belongs to a prominent business family, on 28 October 2011.^[6]

International career

Early career

Gambhir made his ODI debut against Bangladesh in the TVS Cup in 2003. In his third match, he scored 71 and was named Man of the Match. His maiden century (103 off 97 balls) came against Sri Lanka in 2005. In 2004, he made his Test debut against Australia in the fourth and last Test match of the Border Gavaskar Trophy but did himself no favours by getting out for 3 and 1. He made amends in his second Test, however, scoring 96 against the South Africans. His maiden Test century came against Bangladesh in December 2004. Gambhir then made a number of starts in the home series against Pakistan in 2005, but was able to make only one half-century in six innings. He made 97 in Zimbabwe later that year, but failed to reach 30 against Sri Lanka at home, repeatedly struggling against Chaminda Vaas, and was subsequently dropped from the Test team. He was replaced in Tests by Wasim Jaffer, who made a double hundred and a hundred in seven Tests.
While Gambhir was out of the Test team, he played a number of One Day Internationals for India between 2005 and 2007. However, he was not selected for the 2007 World Cup as the selectors opted for a top-order of Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag, and Sachin Tendulkar. It affected him badly and Gambhir later said that "When I got dropped for the World Cup, there were times I didn't want to play anymore. I didn't want to practise. I couldn't motivate myself."^[7] With no other career options, Gambhir stuck with cricket. After India's first-round exit from the tournament, Gambhir was selected for the One Day International on India's 2007 tour of Bangladesh. Believing the series could be his last chance,^[7] Gambhir scored his second century on that tour and was subsequently selected for the One Day International on India's tour to Ireland in 2007. He scored an unbeaten 80 against Ireland in the first game of that tour and was awarded the man of the match award for that effort. In the post-match interview, he indicated that performing more consistently was a top priority for his career as he had done so in the past.^[8]

2007 – 2010

Gambhir was selected in India's squad for the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, which India went on to win in South Africa, beating Pakistan in the final. Gambhir performed well in the shortest form of the game, ending the tournament as India's top run scorer, with 227 at an average of 37.83, including three half-centuries which included a crucial 75 runs off 54 balls against Pakistan in the final.^[9]
2008 started well for Gambhir. At home, he scored an unbeaten 130 in the Ranji Trophy final to help Delhi beat Uttar Pradesh by nine wickets just two days before the team for the ODI tournament in Australia was to be announced.
Gambhir was forced to miss the Test series in Australia due to a shoulder injury. In the 2007–08 CB Series, he scored an unbeaten 102 at The Gabba against Sri Lanka in a match washed out due to rain. Three weeks later at Sydney, he scored a career-best 113 off 119 balls against Australia, in a high scoring match which India lost by 18 runs. He finished the CB series as the leading run-scorer with 440 runs.
In 2008 Gambhir finally solidified his place in the Indian Test team with a string of high scores. Opening the batting with Delhi teammate Virender Sehwag, he scored 858 runs at over 61 in seven matches as of December including a double century against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. However in the same match he was involved in controversy when he elbowed bowler Shane Watson while taking a run. Gambhir asserted it was accidental, but was banned for one Test.^[10] Gambhir scored 463 runs in the series, which despite missing the last match was more than any other player in the series.^[11]
He was the leading run-scorer in the Test series against England in December 2008 and against New Zealand in early-2009, meaning that he had achieved this feat in three consecutive series.
Gambhir played his first major Test series outside the sub-continent, having toured New Zealand in 2009. In the second Test match he scored a match saving 137 in the second innings. He stood more than five sessions in the middle and faced over 430 balls. This innings led Virender Sehwag, Gambhir's opening partner, close friend and captain for the match, to call him 'The Second Wall' in reference to Rahul Dravid. He then scored 167 in the second innings of the Third Test to give India an unassailable lead, but rain helped the New Zealand batsmen to hang on for a draw. Gambhir, with 445 runs in six innings at an average of 89, helped India win 1–0 to script a series win in that country after 41 years.
He was named as the ICC Test Player of the Year for 2009,^[12] and was briefly ranked the No. 1 batsman in the ICC rankings in July; at the time India were not playing Tests and his points rating did not change, but other batsmen who were ranked higher lost points before regaining them.
He continued his run in the late-2009 Test series against Sri Lanka at home. He scored a century in the second innings of the First Test in Ahmedabad to force a draw after the visitors had taken a first innings lead of more than 300, and then combined in a double century opening partnership with Sehwag on the first day of the Second Test in Kanpur, scoring 167 himself and helping India to score more than 400 runs on the opening day. This set up their score of 642 and an innings victory. Following the match, Gambhir returned to the top of the ICC rankings.
Gambhir withdrew from the Third and final Test against Sri Lanka at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai in order to attend his sister's wedding. Vijay against stood in and scored 87 to help India win again by an innings.
He returned for the ODIs and scored an unbeaten 150 in the fourth match in Calcutta to help seal the series 3–1, guiding the hosts to victory in the run-chase.
In the First Test against Bangladesh in Chittagong in January 2009, Gambhir hit a rapid 116 from 129 balls. It was his fifth century in as many Tests and made him the fourth player to achieve this feat. Only Don Bradman has managed six centuries in as many matches.
In the 29th Test match against Bangladesh at Dhaka he rewrote the history of IVA Richards by scoring most fifties plus runs in 11 consecutive matches. In this match he scored 66 runs.

2011 onwards

In the final of the Cricket World Cup 2011, Gambhir scored a solid knock of 97 from 122 balls. Coming in to bat in the first over after the dismissal of Virender Sehwag, he anchored the Indian inning through the dismissals of Sachin Tendulkar and Kohli, and put up a match-winning partnership of 109 runs with MS Dhoni to ensure India lifted the Cup.^[13]
In 2011, India's batting line-up struggled in Tests, particularly away from home. Out of sixteen innings in away Tests, India passed 300 just twice and both the team's opening batsmen failed to score a century in the format in the whole of 2011.^[14] Between February 2010 and November 2011, Gambhir played in 14 Tests. From 25 innings he scored 704 runs at an average of 29.33. In the same period, only two opening batsmen who had played at least 15 innings had a worse average: Phillip Hughes of Australia and Imrul Kayes of Bangladesh. However, while he was struggling in Tests, Gambhir enjoyed a rich run of form in ODIs, averaging 56.90 from 23 matches.^[15] Gambhir opened the batting in all four of India's Test defeats against Australia in 2011–12. He scored 181 runs at an average of 22.62.^[16]
On 12 February 2012, Gautam Gambhir scored 92 off 111 balls in an ODI match against Australia at the Adelaide Oval, to help India win their first match against the hosts at that venue. It was also India's highest successful run chase in Australia. For his effort, Gambhir won the Man of the Match award.^[17] On 14 February 2012, against Sri Lanka, Gambhir yet again missed out on an ODI hundred when he was dismissed run out for a fine 91 off 106 balls. This knock from Gambhir was instrumental in securing a thrilling tie in that match.In August 2012, the Indian selection committee handed him back vice-captaincy of the T20 squad for the World Cup.^[18]

Indian Premier League

Gambhir was picked up by the Delhi Daredevils franchise in the first player auction of the Indian Premier League for a price of US$725,000 a year. He became the second highest run-scorer of the inaugural season with 534 runs from 14 matches.^[19] He was promoted to the post of Captain of the Delhi Daredevils for IPL Season 2010.^[20] At the end of the tournament he became the only player from Delhi Daredevils to score more than 1000 runs in the IPL.
In the 2011 IPL player auction, Gambhir was the most sought after player, fetching a bid of $2.4 million from The Kolkata Knight Riders, making him the highest paid cricketer in the history of IPL. He was then appointed as the skipper of the team.^[21] Under Gambhir's captaincy, the Kolkata Knight Riders qualified for the IPL playoffs and also made it to the Champions League Twenty20 for the first time. He eventually led the side to their first title in 2012 by defeating defending champions Chennai Super Kings by 5 wickets at their home ground in Chennai.^[22] Gamnhir is the leading run-scorer of the Kolkata Knight Riders.^[23] During the same season, he scored 6 half-centuries out of a total of nine from his team and became only the second player to cross the 2000 runs mark in the history of the IPL and the second highest run scorer ever in the tournament.^[24]

Season by season at IPL

IPL Batting Statistics of Gautam Gambhir
Year	Team	Inns	Runs	HS	Ave	SR	100	50	4s	6s
2008	Delhi Daredevils [25][26][27]	14	534	86	41.07	140.89	0	5	68	8
2009		15	286	71*	22.00	102.87	0	1	32	2
2010		10	277	72	30.77	127.64	0	2	32	2
2011	Kolkata Knight Riders [28][29]	15	378	75*	34.36	119.24	0	2	44	3
2012		17	590	93	36.87	143.33	0	6	64	17
2008-2012 Total [24]		71	2065	93	33.30	128.90	0	16	240	32

List of Test centuries

No.	Score	Balls	4s	6s	S/R	Opposition	Venue	Date
1.	139	196	19	0	70.91	Bangladesh	Chittagong (MAA)	17 Dec 2004
2.	104	138	7	1	75.36	Australia	Mohali	17 Oct 2008
3.	206	380	26	1	54.21	Australia	Delhi	29 Oct 2008
4.	179	348	25	1	51.43	England	Mohali	19 Dec 2008
5.	137	436	18	0	31.42	New Zealand	Napier	26 Mar 2009
6.	167	257	16	2	64.98	New Zealand	Wellington	3 Apr 2009
7.	114	230	13	0	49.56	Sri Lanka	Ahmedabad	20 Nov 2009
8.	167	215	15	0	77.67	Sri Lanka	Kanpur	24 Nov 2009
9.	116	129	10	1	89.92	Bangladesh	Chittagong (ZAC)	20 Jan 2010

ODI Career

Man of the Match

No.	Opposition	Venue	Year	Runs
1	Bangladesh	Dhaka	2003	71
2	Bangladesh	Dhaka	2007	101
3	Ireland	Belfast	2007	80*
4	Scotland	Glasgow	2007	85*
5	Bangladesh	Dhaka	2008	107*
6	Sri Lanka	Colombo	2009	150
7	Sri Lanka	Kolkata	2009	150*
8	Bangladesh	Dambulla	2010	82
9	Pakistan	Dambulla	2010	83
10	New Zealand	Jaipur	2010	138*
11	New Zealand	Vadodara	2010	126*
12	Australia	Adelaide	2012	92

List of ODI centuries

No.	Score	Balls	4s	6s	S/R	Opposition	Venue	Date
1.	103	97	13	1	106.18	Sri Lanka	Ahmedabad	6 Nov 2005
2.	101	113	11	0	89.38	Bangladesh	Dhaka	12 May 2007
3.	102*	101	10	1	100.99	Sri Lanka	Brisbane	5 Feb 2008
4.	113	119	9	1	94.95	Australia	Sydney	24 Feb 2008
5.	107*	101	13	1	105.94	Bangladesh	Dhaka	12 Jun 2008
6.	150	147	14	1	102.04	Sri Lanka	Colombo (RPS)	5 Feb 2009
7.	150*	137	14	0	109.48	Sri Lanka	Kolkata	24 Dec 2009
8.	138*	116	18	0	118.96	New Zealand	Jaipur	1 Dec 2010
9.	126*	117	16	0	107.69	New Zealand	Vadodara	4 Dec 2010
10.	100	118	7	0	84.75	Sri Lanka	Mirpur	13 Mar 2012
11.	102	101	10	0	100.99	Sri Lanka	Colombo (RPS)	28 Jul 2012

Man of the Match

Captaincy Record

ODI Matches Captained[30]
Opposition	Result	Margin	Ground	Date
New Zealand	Won	40 runs	Guwahati	28 Nov 2010
New Zealand	Won	8 wickets	Jaipur	1 Dec 2010
New Zealand	Won	9 wickets	Vadodara	4 Dec 2010
New Zealand	Won	5 wickets	Bangalore	7 Dec 2010
New Zealand	Won	8 wickets	Chennai	10 Dec 2010
West Indies	Won	34 runs	Chennai	11 Dec 2011

Captaincy Record in One Day Internationals
Venue	Matches	Won	Lost	Tied	N/R
At Home Venues	6	6	0	0	0 [31]
TOTAL	6	6	0	0	0

Achievements

• ICC Test Player of the Year for 2009
• No. 1 batsman in the ICC rankings in July 2009