Gautam Gambhir announces retirement from cricket

Delhi-born batsman Gautam Gambhir has announced his retirement from cricket. The 37-year-old made the decision public on his Twitter handle, via an 11-minute long video.

In the video, Gambhir thanks all those who helped him achieve several milestones over the course of an 18-year long professional career, one that started in the 1999-2000 season for Delhi.

The caption on his video read: "The most difficult decisions are often taken with the heaviest of hearts. And with one heavy heart, I’ve decided to make an announcement that I’ve dreaded all my life".

In the heartfelt video, Gambhir said: "After more than 15 years of playing for my country, I want to retire from this beautiful game".

The left-handed batsman was part of the winning squads in the 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2011 50-over World Cup. His 97 helped the Indian side chase down Sri Lanka's target of 275 in the 2011 WC finals against Sri Lanka in Mumbai. His 75 formed the major chunk of India's total in the 2007 finals against Pakistan.

In 2009, Gambhir was ranked No.1 in the ICC Test Rankings for batsmen. Two years earlier, he had become the top-ranked batsman in T20I cricket.

Having debuted in 2003, he ends his career with 58 Tests, 147 ODIs and 37 T20Is, compiling more than 10,000 runs in all forms of the game at the international level.

He captained the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL to title wins in 2012 and 2014. Having represented the Delhi Daredevils in the first three seasons of the IPL, Gambhir returned with much fanfare in 2018, but quit captaincy six matches into the side's campaign and was replaced by Shreyas Iyer. He was released by the franchise ahead of the 2019 auctions.

Incidentally, Gambhir's announcement came hours after the Delhi side rechristened to 'Delhi Capitals' and named Iyer as captain.

His final game will be the Ranji game against Andhra Pradesh starting Thursday, 6th December.