Gautam Gambhir Biography

Gautam Gambhir, a dashing opener, was a consistent performer for Delhi at the domestic level, averaging over 50 since his first-class debut in 1999. An attacking batsman, Gambhir is a particularly good player of spin, using his nimble-footedness to good effect. A quick fielder, he's usually stationed close-in or as a sweeper.

He came into the spotlight after his consecutive double hundreds in 2002 before making his ODI debut against Bangladesh in the TVS cup 2003. With only 1 fifty from 5 games, Gambhir soon found himself out of the squad but was back in the reckoning in November 2005, responding with a maiden century on his comeback.

Gambhir made his Test debut in 2004 against Australia but was unable to replicate his domestic success in the international area. He was inconsistent and after a torrid home series against the SriLankan's, he was dropped.

Despite being a regular member of the Indian ODI team between 2005 and 2007, he was left out of India's 2007 World Cup squad. However, after India's disastrous campaign, he was recalled for the Bangladesh tour. Gambhir struck form with a century on the tour and has scored prolifically since.

He was the leading run-scorer for India in the 2007 T20 WC, scoring a match-winning 75 in the final against Pakistan. He sat out of the Test series against Australia with a shoulder injury but scored heavily in the CB series that followed. Gambhir smashed two centuries, finishing the tournament as the leading run-getter with 440 runs.

In his first major tour outside of the sub-continent, Gambhir scored an uncharacteristic 137 in the second Test against New Zealand to draw the game for India. His innings earned him rich praise from Sehwag, who christened him the 'Second Wall' of Indian cricket. He is the only Indian batsman to score more than 300 runs in four consecutive Test series and was the leading run-getter in three successive series (against Australia, England and New Zealand).

In July 2009, for a period of ten days he was the number one ranked batsman in ICC Test rankings. He was named the ICC Test Player of the Year for 2009.

His dip in form started after the Bangladesh tour in 2010. Since then, he could manage a single three figure score for over 25 Test matches and found himself out of the side for the home series against Australia in February 2013 as the selectors were under a lot of pressure to remove him despite their confidence in him.

The 50-over format has been a little kind to him and he led from the front against a visiting New Zealand in 2010 at home with a couple of unbeaten centuries and helped the side sweep the series 5-0. Gambhir played two crucial knocks for the country in the 2011 World Cup; a 50 against the mighty Australians in the quarterfinal and then in the all important final against Sri Lanka, he soaked up all the pressure and scored a match-winning 97. Since then he has scored 9 fifties and a couple of hundreds against Sri Lanka, but has found it tough to replicate the form he once had. Gambhir was dropped from both the Test and ODI squads after the England's India tour and ever since then, he has not played for India in any format. Unfortunately, poor form even in the domestic circuit meant, Gambhir couldn't press for a place in the national side.