5 best Test knocks by Gautam Gambhir
Gautam Gambhir is undoubtedly one of India’s finest opening batsmen of all time, particularly in the Test arena. A run tally of over 4000 runs in the longest format at an average of 42.52 speaks volumes about his great contribution to Indian cricket over the years.
Gambhir last played a Test match back in August 2014 against England at the Oval and has since been off the selectors’ radar. However, an injury to KL Rahul during the ongoing series against New Zealand brought the Delhi cricketer in the frame once again as he was drafted in the Test squad as a replacement.
Throughout his career, the southpaw has played some fabulous knocks in the 5-day format. While some of them consolidated India’s position in the match, there were others which helped bail the team out of a crisis situation.
Here are 5 of the finest knocks by Gautam Gambhir in Test cricket:
#5 66 vs England at Chennai, 2009
India’s historic victory over England at Chennai in 2008 saw them chase down a huge target of 387 runs in a little over 3 sessions with 6 wickets intact. While Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, and Yuvraj Singh are credited as the heroes of this memorable win, we often tend to forget the equally important role played by Gautam Gambhir.
During their opening stand of 117, it was Gambhir’s steady presence at the other end which allowed Sehwag to take the English bowlers to the cleaners. Even when the latter was dismissed, the left-hander was unfazed and proceeded to score a well-compiled 66 off 139 balls before finally getting out in the 44th over of the Indian innings.
Despite being highly under-rated, this knock is among the best that Gautam Gambhir has played in his Test career so far.