A look at some interesting facts about Gautam Gambhir
Gautam Gambhir- one of India's most successful openers - announced his retirement on Tuesday. Gambhir, true to his name, is known for his intensity, seriousness and grit both on and off the field. He had been one of Indian cricket’s most loyal and effective servants.
Gambhir was the top-ranked batsman in Test cricket and was named the ICC Test Player of the Year in 2009.
Gambhir played 58 Test matches for India scoring 4154 runs at an average of 41.96 and 9 centuries. In ODIs, he scored 5238 runs at an average of 39.68 and 11 centuries in 147 matches. He also made his mark in T20I cricket playing 37 matches scoring 932 runs at an average of 27.41 with 7 half centuries.
Gambhir is one of the most successful captains in the IPL. He won two titles with the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in 2012 and 2014.
Gambhir played crucial innings in both 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 ODI World Cup finals helping India secure the trophies. His opening partnerships with Virender Sehwag were instrumental in getting India to the top of ICC Test rankings.
He has also made a name for himself as a fierce nationalist and a compassionate philanthropist.
Let's look at some of little known facts about Gautam Gambhir.
1. Gautam Gambhir: The man of finals
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Gautam Gambhir will always be remembered for his innings in the finale of T20 World cup in 2007 and in the finals of ICC World cup 2011. He scored 57 and 97 runs respectively and took India to a commanding position on both the occasions. India eventually won both the tournaments. (Image: AFP)
2. Gautam Gambhir records
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In 2009, Gambhir became the number one ranked batsman in ICC Test rankings. The same year, he was the recipient of the ICC Test Player of the Year award. He also scored most runs and centuries in ODIs by an Indian in 2008. He scored most centuries in test cricket by an Indian in 2009. Gambhir was conferred the Arjuna Award, India's second highest sporting award, in the year 2008 by the President of India. (Image: AFP)
3. Gautam Gambhir the captain
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India has never lost a match under Gambhir's captaincy. He captained the Indian team in six ODIs from late-2010 to late-2011 with India winning all six matches. (Image: AFP)
4. Gautam Gambhir the record maker
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Gambhir is the only Indian cricketer to score 5 consecutive test centuries. The only others to achieve this feat are Bradman, Kallis and Mohd Yousuf. He is the second batsman after Sir Vivian Richards to score 11 consecutive half centuries. (Image: AFP)
5. Gautam Gambhir: The Humanitarian
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Gautam Gambhir is known as a nationalist and a humanitarian- he is very vocal about issues related to national pride. He has also backed his words with action. He is paying for the education of the kids of CRPF jawans martyred in Chhattisgarh and Zohra, daughter of a J&K police ASI killed by terrorists. (Image: File Photo)
6. The GG foundation
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Gautam Gambhir's GG foundation does a lot of work for the welfare of people. It has started a community kitchen where poor are given free food. Gambhir announced his opening of the kitchen through a tweet, ‘Compassion in my heart, a plate in my hand & a prayer on my lips ‘No one should sleep hungry’. (Image: PTI File Photo)
7. Support for transgenders
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Gautam Gambhir has been a great supporter of the rights of transgender people. He uses his soical media popularity to make people aware about transgender issues. He keeps highlighting their struggles in tweets and posts. He also celebrated Raksha Bandhan with the trans community. (Image: Facebook)
8. Gautam Gambhir at KKR
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Gambhir bagged a whopping deal of 2.5 million dollar for Kolkata Knight Riders and became the most expensive player in the history of IPL at that time. He the led KKR to two IPL titles before returning to Delhi Daredevils. (Image: AFP)
9. Gautam Gambhir was adopted by his grandparents
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Gambhir was adopted by his grandparents soon after he was born and has always lived with them. Eighteen days after Gautam was born, his mother was discharged from the hospital and on the way home, stopped by at his grandparents’ home to show off her newborn. His grandparents immediately took such a liking to him that they insisted he stay on. (Image: PTI)
10. Gautam Gambhir's family
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Gambhir’s married Natasha Jain in 2011. He is a father to two daughters Aazeen and Anaiza. His hobbies are reading and going for long drives with his family. He loves playing games on PlayStation. (Image: File Photo)
