History will judge Gautam Gambhir kindly

If anyone in any other country had scored the highest runs in two World Cup-winning finals, he would be considered among the greatest. Unfortunately, Gautam Gambhir would probably not make it to the dream team of most Indians. Maybe he was not as elegant a left-hander as Sourav Ganguly, who was an impeccable cover driver or perhaps because he didn’t possess the brilliant bat swing of Yuvraj Singh. It wasn't poetry in motion, by any strech of imagination. He didn’t have Virender Sehwag’s wow factor, Dhoni’s coolness or Kohli’s talent, but what he had by the bucketload was guts, to thrive in adversities.

That quality egged him on to play that marathon innings in Napier and also win over a hostile Eden Garden crowd which was seething after the brutal sacking homeboy Sourav Ganguly.

The grit showed when he held his nerves after the fall of two quick wickets at Wankhede in EC final and the never-say-die attitude prompted one last, albeit unsuccessful, comeback to the national team.

He didn't end on a high, but his legacy would eclipse that any day. A man of few words, Gautam Gambhir always showed his aggression on field and compassion off it.

He is a person who believed in India First, not rhetorically and in the actual sense and he wore his patriotism on his sleeves. His attitude led to a run-in with the likes of Simon Katich and Shahid Afridi, but one can be sure it wasn’t personal enmity that led to those clashes.

He was probably not the most talented, but he was undoubtedly one of the most committed individuals, whom any captain would love to have in their team. 

In today’s age of PR-driven social media, he might lack the grace and political correctness or the knowhow which prevented him from becoming an icon on par with Virat Kohli or MS Dhoni. His outgoing video shows that quality, and he put up no pretence as he signed off.

His refusal to dial down his emotions was also taken in a negative way. Today’s cricketers are forced to be politically correct in their public statements and any deviance is considered either controversial or attention-seeking. To have an opinion, particularly one that doesn’t gel with the liberal Twitter junta, is almost a sin but that didn’t affect him.

Perhaps it even affected his image, as did his so-called rift with MS Dhoni, which was an overhyped saga. Gambhir wasn’t deferential to Dhoni and he refused to bow to the larger-than-life image of India’s most successful captain. But most of his perceived attacks are based on solid cricketing logic and certainly weren’t ad hominem attacks to collect cheap points.

Gambhir’s hardcore nationalist views, which in today’s India are equalled with a certain political ideology, also saw him get undue flak from the 'liberals'. 

It was quite preposterous to see him being labelled an ‘out-of-job cricketer and attention seeker which tried to paint over the fact that he played a pivotal role in ushering Team India into its golden era.

We don’t know if Gambhir will enter political life, but it will be for the betterment of society because politics needs conscientious people, those who want to change things, people who want to give beyond living room discussions and make an actual impact on the ground. His foundations and philanthropic work have already done that and if he feels that politics is proper way to further it, it’s a good call for India, irrespective of the party he joins. As a commentator, he has shown his astute nature and hopefully, he will pass on his cricketing knowledge to youngsters.

History will be kinder to the cricketer Gambhir when he is no longer compared stroke by stroke with his more talented colleagues. A dogged professional, he was a proven performer and we would be rooting hard for his success in future endeavours. If he managed to hold his own while batting with a force of nature like Sehwag, no job should be too tough for him. He built the brick-and-mortar foundation over which many edifices were built. He was the supporting act which deserved its own award.

Hopefully, he will live by the KKR motto of Korbo Lorbo Jitbo post retirement too. As SRK said: “Picture abhi baaki hai mere dost.” We certainly hope we haven’t seen the last of Gauti.