Top 10 knocks by Gautam Gambhir
Gautam Gambhir may be out of the Indian team for good but we cannot deny the fact that he was one of India’s finest and most versatile cricketers.
In a career spanning nearly a decade, Gauti has amassed 4154 Test runs at an average of 41.95 with 22 fifties and 9 hundreds, and 5238 ODI runs at an average of 39.68 with 34 fifties and 11 hundreds, the second most number of centuries by an Indian batsman who has played less than 150 ODIs.
Over the course of his career, the Delhi player produced many crucial, match-winning knocks for India and here is the list of his 10 best knocks for the nation.
#10 114 vs Sri Lanka at Ahmedabad, 2009
It was the first Test of Sri Lanka’s tour of India in 2009. The venue was Ahmedabad and India batted first after skipper MS Dhoni won the toss. The hosts lost openers Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag early and their dismissals were followed by the wickets of two other crucial players in Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman.
India were tottering at 32/4 before Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, and Dhoni rescued the innings through their brilliant knocks. Dravid and Dhoni scored 177 and 110 respectively while Yuvi scored 68 as India reached a total of 426 in their first innings.
In reply, Mahela Jayawardene’s monumental 275 assisted by Prasanna Jayawardene’s 154 and Tillakaratne Dilshan’s 112 powered Sri Lanka to 760/7, their second highest Test total and currently the 6th highest total in Test cricket.
In the second innings, Gambhir and Sehwag gave India a fine start by adding 81 for the first wicket before the latter was dismissed shortly after reaching his half-century. Rahul Dravid added 38 but was sent back to the pavilion by Chanaka Welegedara. Gambhir reached his fifty and along with Amit Mishra, batted out the remainder of day 4, helping India to 190/2 but still trailing by 144 runs.
On the final day, Mishra was dismissed early on but Gambhir continued on his way to a century. He eventually scored 114, hitting 13 fours before being dismissed by Rangana Herath. However, he had put India in a position to draw the match by then. Tendulkar’s 100 and Laxman’s 51 took India to 412/4 resulting in the match being drawn.
#9 92 vs Australia, 2012 CB Series
After being whitewashed by Australia 4-0 in the Test series, India lost the opening match of the Commonwealth Bank tri-series against Australia at Melbourne before beating Sri Lanka at Perth in their second game. In their third match of the series, India were once again up against Australia, this time at Adelaide.
India took the wickets of David Warner and Ricky Ponting early but fifties from David Hussey (72) and debutant Peter Forrest (66), assisted by crucial contributions from captain Michael Clarke (38) and Dan Christian (39) took Australia to a total of 269/8.
In reply, Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag gave India a steady start before the latter was dismissed for 20 by Clint McKay. However, Gambhir batted on. He showed calculated aggression and made sure that India’s run-rate was close to the required run-rate.
Gambhir scored 92 before being dismissed by McKay. This was his highest score against Australia since his 113 at Sydney in 2008. It was also his highest score at Adelaide. India eventually won the match by four wickets and Gambhir was adjudged the Man of the Match. This was India’s first win against Australia at Adelaide.