Full name Gautam Gambhir
Born October 14, 1981, Delhi
Current age 29 years 97 days
Batting style Left-hand bat
Bowling style Legbreak
Major teams India, Delhi, Delhi Daredevils, India Red, Indian Board President's XI, Rajasthan Cricket Association President's XI
Gautam Gambhir Profile
Feisty and firm, capricious and correct, insatiable and insecure, Gautam Gambhir is one of the most complete batsmen of the current era. He is adept at opening in all three forms of the game. He can be more aggressive than Virender Sehwag, he can play the kind of back-to-the-wall innings that would do Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman proud, and he can accumulate without taking any risks, much like Sachin Tendulkar has been doing in the last quarter of his career.
He walks down the track to the fastest of bowlers, and an unfriendly word or three with the fielding side only help him concentrate harder, though it's not as if he needs external motivation to make the most of his time as a cricketer. He almost lost the fight to his own high standards and to the fickle selectors, which left him "not wanting to play anymore" when he was dropped for the 2007 World Cup, and insecure when he did make it back. For about eight first years of his career, he was the domestic cheque that would not be honoured at international level. While the bowlers on the Ranji circuit swore by this little left-hand batsman, he had just two international centuries to show after 13 Tests and 19 ODIs when he was left out of the World Cup party.
He came back with massive runs in domestic cricket, a few important technical adjustments, and with the reputation of being the best player of spin in India, outside the international side. A century in his second ODI back and a final-winning fifty in the inaugural World Twenty20 paved the way for his Test return. Test fifties against Murali and Mendis in the summer of Murali and Mendis in 2008 told him he belonged. In his next 13 Tests, he scored eight centuries: centuries to set up wins, centuries to bat opposition out, and centuries to hold on for draws, including the near 11-hour marathon in Napier. The Arjuna Award came his way, the ICC named him the Test player of 2009, but much more tellingly Sehwag called him the best Indian Test opener since Sunil Gavaskar. The only plausible flaw in Sehwag's claim is Sehwag himself.
Fast Facts
* Gautam Gambhir was named the ICC Test Player of the Year in 2009.
* He became the first Indian batsman, and fourth overall, to record five hundreds in five consecutive Tests.
* Gambhir also became the second player in history to score 11 consecutive fifties in 11 Tests, a feat earlier achieved by Sir Viv Richards.
* He became the first Indian to record more than 300 runs in four consecutive Test series.
* Gambhir was India's top scorer in the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, finishing with 227 runs. It was the second highest overall, behind Matthew Hayden's 265.
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