Gambhir proves his mettle
Gambhir became the first left hander in history to score a double hundred against Australia, putting India in a commendable position in the second day of the third Test. He shared valuable partnerships of 130 and 278 runs with Sachin and Laxman.
GAUTAM GAMBHIR entered to the elite club of double century makers, by scoring 206 (380 b, 4x26, 1x6) against mighty Australia. The left hand batsman achieved the unique feat in stylish fashion on his home ground Firoz Shah Kotla, Delhi. The 27-year-old batsman achieved the feat in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Series against Australia.
Gambhir opened the innings with Virender Sehwag and dominated the strong Australian bowling attack all through his innings. He anchored the Indian innings and shared two valuable partnerships of 130 runs and 278 runs with Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman, respectively.
Gambhir made his ODI debut in 2003 against Bangladesh in the TVS Cup. Interestingly, Gambhir made his Test debut against Australia in 2004 in the last match of Border – Gavaskar Trophy and scored 3 and 1. But, Gambhir proved his potential by scoring 96 runs against South Africa. In December 2004, Gambhir scored his first Test century against Bangladesh.
In 2005, Gambhir opened the innings in the home series against Pakistan, but failed to score. However, in home series against Sri Lanka, he failed to reach even the 30 run mark and was subsequently dropped from the Test team. Gambhir was also criticised by the cricket experts following his poor form for not being able to convert his 20s and 30s to big totals.
At the meantime between 2005 and 2007, Gambhir played a number of ODIs for India between 2005 and 2007. But failed to find a place for himself in the 2007 World Cup squad as the selectors preferred experienced opening batsmen Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag.
Following India’s early exit from the World Cup, Gambhir was selected for the ODIs on India’s 2007 Bangladesh tour. Gambhir scored his second ODI century and secured his place for the ODI on India’s tour to Ireland in 2007, where he scored an impressive unbeaten 80 against Ireland in the first match and got the man of the match award.
Gambhir proved his ability in 2007 ICC World Twenty20 championship. The left hand batsman scored 227 runs at an average of 37.83 with three half-centuries, including a crucial 75 runs of 54 balls against Pakistan in the final. Unluckily due to a shoulder injury, Gambhir missed the Test series in Australia early this year. But in 2007 – 08 Commonwealth Bank Series, he scored an unbeaten 102 against Sri Lanka at the Gabba and 113 off 119 balls against Australia, three weeks later at Sydney in the same series. Gambhir finished the CB series as the top scorer with 440 runs.
 | Previous Post |
| Next Post |  |
