Gautam Gambhir Biography

Full Name  : Gautam Gambhir

Date of Birth : 14 October 1981

Place of Birth  : New Delhi, India 

Nick Name  : Gauti 

Batting Style : Left-Handed 

Bowling Style  : Right Arm Leg Break 

Role  : Opening (Top Order Batsman)

Test Debut (cap 249)  : 3rd November 2004 v Australia 

ODI  Debut (cap 149) : 11th April 2003 v Bangladesh 

Gautam Gambhir is an Indian cricketer. A left-handed batsman, he made his One Day International debut for India in 2003, and played his first Test the following year. Gambhir had been a prolific run-scorer in domestic cricket with an average of over 50 but his two successive double-hundreds in 2002 (one of them against the visiting Zimbabweans) made him a strong contender for India's opening slot.

Gambhir became only the fourth Indian batsman to score a double century in a tour game at home; the previous three being Sunil Gavaskar, Dilip Vengsarkar and Sachin Tendulkar.  Gautam Gambhir is the only Indian batsman to score more than 300 runs in four consecutive Test series.  Gautam Gambhir is also the only Indian, and one of only four international cricketers, to have scored five hundreds in five consecutive test matches. On July 2009, for a period of ten days he was the number one ranked batsman in ICC Test rankings.

Early Life

Gambhir attended Modern School, New Delhi.Gambhir was selected in 2000 for the first intake of the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore.  Gautam Gambhir is set to tie knot with Natasha Jain, who belongs to a prominent business family based in Model Town, in a simple ceremony in late 2011.

International Career

Early Career

Gambhir made his ODI debut against Bangladesh in the TVS Cup in 2003. In his third match, he scored 71 and was named Man of the Match.  Gautam Gambhir maiden century (103 off 97 balls) came against Sri Lanka in 2005. In 2004, he made his Test debut against Australia in the fourth and last Test match of the Border Gavaskar Trophy but did himself no favours by getting out for 3 and 1.  Gautam Gambhir made amends in his second Test, however, scoring 96 against the South Africans.  Gautam Gambhir maiden Test century came against Bangladesh in December 2004. Gambhir then made a number of starts in the home series against Pakistan in 2005, but was able to make only one half-century in six innings.  Gautam Gambhir made 97 in Zimbabwe later that year, but failed to reach 30 against Sri Lanka at home, repeatedly struggling against Chaminda Vaas, and was subsequently dropped from the Test team.  Gautam Gambhir was replaced in Tests by Wasim Jaffer, who made a double hundred and a hundred in seven Tests.

While Gambhir was out of the Test team, he played a number of One Day Internationals for India between 2005 and 2007. However, he was not selected for the 2007 World Cup as the selectors opted for a top-order of Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag, and Sachin Tendulkar. It affected him badly and Gambhir later said that "When I got dropped for the World Cup, there were times I didn't want to play anymore. I didn't want to practise. I couldn't motivate myself."Gambhir scored his second century on that tour and was subsequently selected for the One Day International on India's tour to Ireland in 2007.  Gautam Gambhir  scored an unbeaten 80 against Ireland in the first game of that tour and was awarded the man of the match award for that effort. In the post-match interview, he indicated that performing more consistently was a top priority for his career as he had done so in the past.

2007 – 2010

Gambhir was selected in India's squad for the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, which India went on to win in South Africa, beating Pakistan in the final. Gambhir performed well in the shortest form of the game, ending the tournament as India's top run scorer, with 227 at an average of 37.83, including three half-centuries which included a crucial 75 runs off 54 balls against Pakistan in the final.

2008 started well for Gambhir. At home, he scored an unbeaten 130 in the Ranji Trophy final to help Delhi beat Uttar Pradesh by nine wickets just two days before the team for the ODI tournament in Australia was to be announced.

Gambhir was forced to miss the Test series in Australia due to a shoulder injury. In the 2007–08 CB Series, he scored an unbeaten 102 at The Gabba against Sri Lanka in a match washed out due to rain. Three weeks later at Sydney, he scored a career-best 113 off 119 balls against Australia, in a high scoring match which India lost by 18 runs.  Gautam Gambhir finished the CB series as the leading run-scorer with 440 runs.In 2008 Gambhir finally solidified his place in the Indian Test team with a string of high scores. Opening the batting with Delhi teammate Virender Sehwag, he scored 858 runs at over 61 in seven matches as of December including a double century against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. However in the same match he was involved in controversy when he elbowed bowler Shane Watson while taking a run. Gambhir asserted it was accidental, but was banned for one Test. Gambhir scored 463 runs in the series, which despite missing the last match was more than any other player in the series.

He was the leading run-scorer in the Test series against England in December 2008 and against New Zealand in early-2009, meaning that he had achieved this feat in three consecutive series.

Gambhir played his first major Test series outside the sub-continent, having toured New Zealand in 2009. In the second Test match he scored a match saving 137 in the second innings.  Gautam Gambhir stood more than five sessions in the middle and faced over 430 balls. This innings led Virender Sehwag, Gambhir's opening partner, close friend and captain for the match, to call him 'The Second Wall' in reference to Rahul Dravid.  Gautam Gambhir then scored 167 in the second innings of the Third Test to give India an unassailable lead, but rain helped the New Zealand batsmen to hang on for a draw. Gambhir, with 445 runs in six innings at an average of 89, helped India win 1–0 to script a series win in that country after 41 years.

Gautam Gambhirwas named as the ICC Test Player of the Year for 2009, and was briefly ranked the No. 1 batsman in the ICC rankings in July; at the time India were not playing Tests and his points rating did not change, but other batsmen who were ranked higher lost points before regaining them.

Gautam Gambhir continued his run in the late-2009 Test series against Sri Lanka at home.  Gautam Gambhir scored a century in the second innings of the First Test in Ahmedabad to force a draw after the visitors had taken a first innings lead of more than 300, and then combined in a double century opening partnership with Sehwag on the first day of the Second Test in Kanpur, scoring 167 himself and helping India to score more than 400 runs on the opening day. This set up their score of 642 and an innings victory. Following the match, Gambhir returned to the top of the ICC rankings.

Gambhir withdrew from the Third and final Test against Sri Lanka at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai in order to attend his sister's wedding. Vijay against stood in and scored 87 to help India win again by an innings.

Gautam Gambhir returned for the ODIs and scored an unbeaten 150 in the fourth match in Calcutta to help seal the series 3–1, guiding the hosts to victory in the run-chase.

In the First Test against Bangladesh in Chittagong in January 2009, Gambhir hit a rapid 116 from 129 balls. It was his fifth century in as many Tests and made him the fourth player to achieve this feat. Only Don Bradman has managed six centuries in as many matches.

In the 29th Test match against Bangladesh at Dhaka he rewrote the history of IVA Richards by scoring most fifties plus runs in 11 consecutive matches. In this match he scored 66 runs.

2011 onwardsIn the final of the Cricket World Cup 2011, Gambhir scored a solid knock of 97 from 122 balls. Coming in to bat in the first over after the dismissal of Sehwag, he anchored the Indian inning through the dismissals of Sachin Tendulkar and Kohli, and put up a match-winning partnershipof 109 runs with Dhoni to ensure India lifted the Cup.

In 2011, India's batting line-up struggled in Tests, particularly away from home. Out of sixteen innings in away Tests, India passed 300 just twice and both the team's opening batsmen failed to score a century in the format in the whole of 2011.Between February 2010 and November 2011, Gambhir played in 14 Tests. From 25 innings he scored 704 runs at an average of 29.33. In the same period, only two opening batsmen who had played at least 15 innings had a worse average: Phillip Hughes of Australia and Imrul Kayes of Bangladesh. However, while he was struggling in Tests Gambhir enjoyed a rich run of form in ODIs, averaging 56.90 from 23&nbsolmatches.

Indian Premier League Gambhir was picked up by the Delhi Daredevils franchise in the first player auction of the Indian Premier League for a price of US$725,000 a year.  Gautam Gambhir became the second highest run-scorer of the inaugural season with 534 runs from 14 matches.

Gautam Gambhir was promoted to the post of Captain of the Delhi Daredevils for IPL Season 2010. At the end of the tournament he became the only player from Delhi Daredevils to score more than 1000 runs in all the three editions.

In the 2011 IPL Players Auction,Gautam was the most sought player fetching a bid of $2.4 million from Kolkata Knight Riders making him the highest paid cricketer in the history of the game.  Gautam Gambhir is also the captain of the Knight Riders.

List of Test Centuries

1. 139  196 19 0 70.91  Bangladesh Chittagong (MAA) 17 Dec 2004 

2. 104  138 7 1 75.36  Australia Mohali 17 Oct 2008 

3. 206  380 26 1 54.21  Australia Delhi 29 Oct 2008 

4. 179  348 25 1 51.43  England Mohali 19 Dec 2008 

5. 137  436 18 0 31.42  New Zealand Napier 26 Mar 2009 

6. 167  257 16 2 64.98  New Zealand Wellington 3 Apr 2009 

7. 114  230 13 0 49.56  Sri Lanka Ahmedabad 20 Nov 2009 

8. 167  215 15 0 77.67  Sri Lanka Kanpur 24 Nov 2009 

9. 116  129 10 1 89.92  Bangladesh Chittagong (ZAC) 20 Jan 2010 

List of ODI Centuries

1. 103 97 13 1 106.18  Sri Lanka Ahmedabad 6 Nov 2005 

2. 101 113 11 0 89.38  Bangladesh Dhaka 12 May 2007 

3. 102* 101 10 1 100.99  Sri Lanka Brisbane 5 Feb 2008 

4. 113 119 9 1 94.95  Australia Sydney 24 Feb 2008 

5. 107* 101 13 1 105.94  Bangladesh Dhaka 12 Jun 2008 

6. 150 147 14 1 102.04  Sri Lanka Colombo (RPS) 5 Feb 2009 

7. 150* 137 14 0 109.48  Sri Lanka Kolkata 24 Dec 2009 

8. 138* 116 18 0 118.96  New Zealand Jaipur 1 Dec 2010 

9. 126* 117 16 0 107.69  New Zealand Vadodara 4 Dec 2010 

Achievements 

ICC Test Player of the Year for 2009 

No. 1 batsman in the ICC rankings in July 2009