Gautam Gambhir Profile by CricketArchive

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Player:

G Gambhir

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DateLine: 7th June 2008

 

A lanky left hander from Delhi, Gautam Gambhir isn’t one of those batsmen whom you will call elegant in their stroke play. For his each shot comes forth as a move under sheer determination. Not to forget, his attacking strokeplay is the reason why he is perched at the top pedestal in Indian cricket today.

 

Although of short stature, his compact footwork, high bat-speed and a brashly youthful approach has left bowlers astonished who have considered him to be easy meat. He first caught the eye of the selectors in 2002, a season in which he hit two swashbuckling double centuries, one for Delhi and one against the visiting Zimbabweans.

 

Down but not out, the south paw continued to impress with his form and fitness in the domestic circuit and when several senior players asked to be rested after the World Cup, he got his ODI debut in the TVS Cup in Dhaka, way back in 2003. Finally he got his test debut in the fourth Test against Australia at Mumbai, in 2004-05.

 

Since then he has had a career which has had many gaps in between. As a result he has not been able to become a permanent fixture in either form of the game. But India's poor showing in the 2007 World Cup, his career actually made a new start after being picked for the one-day series in Bangladesh. A century on that tour, and a run of success over the summer in Ireland and England culminated in a stellar performance during the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 in South Africa. Gambhir was the second-highest run-scorer of the tournament, scoring four half-centuries, including a brilliant 75 against Pakistan in the final. But he could still not find a place in the test side and went back to domestic cricket, only to score another hundred and lead Delhi to a Ranji trophy win. Then came the tour to Australia which many see as a turning point in his life. Two centuries meant that he has now matured into a permanent batsman of the team.

 

He played for the Delhi Dare Devils in the IPL, occupying the highly coveted Orange Cap for long, before finally losing it to Shaun Marsh.

 

Since then he has made a comeback into the test side and his pairing with Sehwag in the Sri Lankan test series was phenomenal. He was consistent right through the series and made sure that he booked his place in the test team as well.

 

He followed it up with a brilliant home series against Australia were he was the top run scorer for both teams. His partnership with Sehwag has taken the load off the middle order for once in their careers.