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Gautam Gambhir (; born 14 October 1981) is an Indian politician and former
cricketer Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
, who has played all formats of the game. He is a current member of the
Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...
since 2019. He received the
Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...
from the
Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...
in 2019, the fourth highest
civilian award This list of civil awards and decorations is a partial index to articles about notable civil awards and decorations. It excludes Law enforcement awards and honors and ecclesiastical decorations, which are covered by separate lists. See :Civil aw ...
in India. As a cricketer, he was a left-handed
opening batsman In cricket, the batting order is the sequence in which batters play through their team's innings, there always being two batters taking part at any one time. All eleven players in a team are required to bat if the innings is completed (i.e., if ...
who played domestic cricket for
Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
, and captained
Kolkata Knight Riders Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are a franchise cricket team representing the city of Kolkata in the Indian Premier League. The franchise is owned by Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, actress Juhi Chawla and her spouse Jay Mehta. The Knight Riders ...
and
Delhi Daredevils Delhi Capitals (formerly Delhi Daredevils) are a franchise cricket team based out of Delhi in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The franchise is jointly owned by the GMR Group and the JSW Group. The team's home ground is Arun Jaitley Stadiu ...
in the
Indian Premier League The Indian Premier League (IPL), also known as TATA IPL for sponsorship reasons, is a men's T20 franchise cricket league of India. It is annually contested by ten teams based out of seven Indian cities and three Indian states. The leagu ...
(IPL). He made his
One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...
(ODI) debut against
Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
in 2003, and played his first
Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...
the following year against
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
. He captained the Indian team in six ODIs from late 2010 to late 2011 with India winning all six matches. He played an integral part in India's wins in the finals of both the 2007 World Twenty20 (75 runs from 54 balls) and the
2011 Cricket World Cup The 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup was the tenth Cricket World Cup. It was played in India, Sri Lanka, and for the first time in Bangladesh. India won the tournament, defeating Sri Lanka by 6 wickets in the final at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, thus ...
(97 from 122). Under Gambhir's captaincy,
Kolkata Knight Riders Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are a franchise cricket team representing the city of Kolkata in the Indian Premier League. The franchise is owned by Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, actress Juhi Chawla and her spouse Jay Mehta. The Knight Riders ...
won their first IPL title in 2012 and went on to win the title again in 2014. Gambhir was the only Indian and one of four international cricketers to have scored hundreds in five consecutive Test matches. He is the only Indian batsman to have scored more than 300 runs in four consecutive Test series. As of April 2018, he is the sixth highest run-scorer for India in
Twenty20 Internationals A Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of cricket, played between two of the international members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), in which each team faces a maximum of twenty overs. The matches have top-class status and are the ...
. In October 2018, during the quarter-finals of the 2018–19 Vijay Hazare Trophy, he scored his 10,000th run in
List A cricket List A cricket is a classification of the limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competitions in which the numbe ...
. In December 2018, he announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. In 2019, he joined the
Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...
and won election to the
Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...
from
East Delhi East Delhi is an administrative district of Delhi in India. It is bounded by the Yamuna River on the west, North East Delhi to the north, Ghaziabad District of Uttar Pradesh state to the east, and Gautam Buddha Nagar District of Uttar Prades ...
. He was conferred the
Arjuna Award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjuna, one ...
, India's second highest sporting award, in the year 2008 by the President of India. In 2009, he was the number one ranked batsman in ICC Test rankings. The same year, he was the recipient of the
ICC Test Player of the Year The ICC Men's Test Cricketer of the Year is an annual award, presented since 2004 by the International Cricket Council to the best Test cricketer over the year in question. It is one of the annual ICC Awards. Selection The recipient of the annual ...
award. He is currently the mentor of
Lucknow Super Giants Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) is a franchise cricket team based in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. They play in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The Lucknow franchise formed in 2021. Sanjeev Goenka is its principal owner. The team is captained by KL Rahu ...
in the
IPL The Indian Premier League (IPL), also known as TATA IPL for sponsorship reasons, is a men's T20 franchise cricket league of India. It is annually contested by ten teams based out of seven Indian cities and three Indian states. The leagu ...
.


Early and personal life

Gambhir was born in
New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...
to Deepak Gambhir, who manages a textiles business, and Seema Gambhir, a housewife. Gambhir has a sister, Ekta, who is two years younger to him. His grandfather originally came from
Multan Multan (; ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan, on the bank of the Chenab River. Multan is Pakistan's seventh largest city as per the 2017 census, and the major cultural, religious and economic centre of southern Punjab. Multan is one of the List ...
to
Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
in 1947. Gambhir was adopted by his maternal grandparents eighteen days after his birth and lived with them ever since. Gambhir started playing cricket at the age of 10. He received his schooling from
Modern School, New Delhi Modern School is a co-educational, private school in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1920 by Lala Raghubir Singh, a prominent Delhi-based businessman and philanthropist, who desired an institution that combined the "best of ancient Indian tr ...
and graduated from
Hindu College, University of Delhi Hindu College is a constituent college of the University of Delhi in New Delhi, India. It offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in sciences, humanities, social sciences and commerce. In 2022, it is ranked 2nd nationally by Nationa ...
. He stayed at his maternal uncle Pawan Gulati's residence in the '90s. Gambhir considers Gulati to be his mentor and would often call him up before important matches. Gambhir was coached by Sanjay Bharadwaj of Lal Bahadur Shastri Academy in Delhi, and Raju Tandon. Gambhir was selected for the first intake of the
National Cricket Academy The National Cricket Academy is a cricket facility of the BCCI for the purpose of developing young cricketers who have been identified as having the potential to represent the Indian cricket team. It was established in the year 2000 and is loc ...
in
Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...
in 2000. In October 2011, Gambhir married Natasha Jain, who belongs to a prominent business family. He currently resides in Delhi's Rajendra Nagar neighbourhood.


Indian Premier League

Gambhir was picked up by the
Delhi Daredevils Delhi Capitals (formerly Delhi Daredevils) are a franchise cricket team based out of Delhi in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The franchise is jointly owned by the GMR Group and the JSW Group. The team's home ground is Arun Jaitley Stadiu ...
franchise in the first player auction of the
Indian Premier League The Indian Premier League (IPL), also known as TATA IPL for sponsorship reasons, is a men's T20 franchise cricket league of India. It is annually contested by ten teams based out of seven Indian cities and three Indian states. The leagu ...
for a price of US$725,000 a year. He became the second highest run-scorer of the inaugural season with 534 runs from 14 matches. For his performances in 2008, he was named in the Cricinfo IPL XI. He was promoted to the post of Captain of the
Delhi Daredevils Delhi Capitals (formerly Delhi Daredevils) are a franchise cricket team based out of Delhi in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The franchise is jointly owned by the GMR Group and the JSW Group. The team's home ground is Arun Jaitley Stadiu ...
for IPL Season 2010. At the end of the tournament he became the only player from
Delhi Daredevils Delhi Capitals (formerly Delhi Daredevils) are a franchise cricket team based out of Delhi in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The franchise is jointly owned by the GMR Group and the JSW Group. The team's home ground is Arun Jaitley Stadiu ...
to score more than 1000 runs in the IPL. In the 2011 IPL player auction, Gambhir was the most sought after player, fetching a bid of $2.4 million from The
Kolkata Knight Riders Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are a franchise cricket team representing the city of Kolkata in the Indian Premier League. The franchise is owned by Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, actress Juhi Chawla and her spouse Jay Mehta. The Knight Riders ...
, making him the highest paid cricketer in the history of IPL. He was then appointed as the skipper of the team. Under Gambhir's captaincy, the Kolkata Knight Riders qualified for the IPL playoffs and also made it to the
Champions League Twenty20 The Champions League Twenty20, also referred to as the CLT20, was an annual international Twenty20 Cricket competition played between qualifying domestic teams from some major cricketing nations. The competition was launched in 2008 with the f ...
for the first time. He eventually led the side to their first title in 2012 by defeating defending champions
Chennai Super Kings Chennai Super Kings (CSK) is an Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise cricket team based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Founded in 2008, the team plays its home matches at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. The team is owned by India ...
by 5 wickets at their home ground in
Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
. For his performances in 2012, he was named as captain of the Cricinfo IPL XI. Gambhir is the leading run-scorer of the Kolkata Knight Riders. During the same season, he scored 6 half-centuries out of a total of nine from his team and became only the second player to cross the 2000 runs mark in the history of the IPL and the second highest run scorer ever in the tournament. He led Kolkata Knight Riders to their second title in 2014 by beating
Kings XI Punjab Punjab Kings (PBKS) are a franchise cricket team based in Mohali, Punjab, that plays in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Established in 2008 as the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), the franchise is jointly owned by Mohit Burman, Ness Wadia, Preity Zi ...
by 3 wickets. He led Kolkata Knight Riders to the playoffs in the 2016 and 2017 season and was also the highest run-scorer. For his performances in the 2017 IPL season, he was named in the Cricinfo and Cricbuzz IPL XI. On 27 January 2018, in the
2018 IPL Auction This is a list of all personnel changes for the 2018 Indian Premier League. This was the third season to have all players, apart from a selection of retained players, return to the auction pool (first in 2011, second in 2014) Player retention ...
, he was bought by the
Delhi Daredevils Delhi Capitals (formerly Delhi Daredevils) are a franchise cricket team based out of Delhi in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The franchise is jointly owned by the GMR Group and the JSW Group. The team's home ground is Arun Jaitley Stadiu ...
for ₹2.8 crore, and was appointed as the captain. Later Kolkata Knight Rider's CEO
Venky Mysore Venky Mysore is the CEO of Red Chillies Entertainment and CEO and managing director of the Indian Premier League team Kolkata Knight Riders. He was instrumental behind Kolkata Knight Riders buying the Caribbean Premier League The Caribbe ...
revealed that Gambhir had asked the team not to retain him as he wanted to finish his IPL career where he started. On 25 April, Gambhir stepped down from captaincy citing poor performances of the team, and announced
Shreyas Iyer Shreyas Santosh Iyer (born 6 December 1994) is an Indian international cricketer who plays for the Indian cricket team as a Right-handed batter. He has played in all formats for the Indian team. Iyer has scored a century in his debut test matc ...
as the new captain of the Delhi Daredevils. In December 2021, Gambhir was announced the mentor of the new IPL franchise
Lucknow Super Giants Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) is a franchise cricket team based in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. They play in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The Lucknow franchise formed in 2021. Sanjeev Goenka is its principal owner. The team is captained by KL Rahu ...
.


International career


Early career

While Gambhir was out of the Test team, he played a number of One Day Internationals for
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
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 Sourav Chandidas Ganguly (; natively spelled as Gangopadhyay; born 8 July 1972), affectionately known as Dada (meaning ''"elder brother"'' in Bengali), is an Indian cricket administrator, commentator and former national cricket team captain w ...
,
Virender Sehwag Virender Sehwag (born 20 October 1978) is a former Indian cricketer who represented India from 1999 to 2013. Widely regarded as one of the most destructive opener, he played for Delhi Capitals in IPL and Delhi and Haryana in Indian domestic c ...
, and
Sachin Tendulkar Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (; ; born 24 April 1973) is an Indian former international cricketer who captained the Indian national team. He is regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. He is the all time highest run-scor ...
. 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." With no other career options, Gambhir stuck with cricket. After India's first-round exit from the tournament, Gambhir was selected for the One Day International on India's 2007 tour of Bangladesh. Believing the series could be his last chance, 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. He scored an unbeaten 80 against
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
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. Gambhir was selected in India's squad for the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, which India went on to win in South Africa, beating
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
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. He was named in the 'Team of the Tournament' by Cricinfo for the 2007 T20I World Cup. For his performances in 2007, he was named in the World T20I XI by Cricinfo.


Golden form

In 2008, 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 The Brisbane Cricket Ground, commonly known as the Gabba, is a major sports stadium in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. The nickname Gabba derives from the suburb of Woolloongabba, in which it is located. Over the years, the Gab ...
against Sri Lanka in a match washed out due to rain. Three weeks later at
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
, he scored a career-best 113 off 119 balls against Australia, in a high scoring match which India lost by 18 runs. He 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 Virender Sehwag (born 20 October 1978) is a former Indian cricketer who represented India from 1999 to 2013. Widely regarded as one of the most destructive opener, he played for Delhi Capitals in IPL and Delhi and Haryana in Indian domestic c ...
, 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 Shane Robert Watson (born 17 June 1981) is an Australian former cricketer, and occasional captain in all formats, who has played for Australia's national cricket team. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-handed fast-medium swing bowler w ...
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. For his performances in 2008, he was named in the World Test XI and ODI XI by Cricinfo. 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. He 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 Rahul Sharad Dravid (; born 11 January 1973) is an Indian cricket coach and former captain of the Indian national team, currently serving as its head coach. Prior to his appointment to the senior men's national team, Dravid was the Head of ...
. He 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.


Through ranks

He was 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. He continued his run in the late-2009 Test series against Sri Lanka at home. He 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 Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
at the
Brabourne Stadium The Brabourne Stadium is a cricket ground in Mumbai in Western India, built in the British Bombay era. It was the home ground of the Mumbai men's and women's cricket teams. It can accommodate 50,000 people for sports matches. The ground is owne ...
in
Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
in order to attend his sister's wedding. 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. For his performances in 2009, he was named in the World Test XI by the ICC.


Brief captaincy

In 2010, Gambhir was appointed captain of the national team in the ODI series against New Zealand which was hosted by India. He scored an unbeaten 126 in the third match in Vadodara to help seal the series, guiding the hosts to victory in the run-chase. He eventually earned the Man-of-the-Series award for leading India to a 5–0 win. He then returned as captain of the side in India's match against the West Indies in December 2011.


Post-captaincy

In the
final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
of the
Cricket World Cup 2011 The 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup was the tenth Cricket World Cup. It was played in India, Sri Lanka, and for the first time in Bangladesh. India won the tournament, defeating Sri Lanka by 6 wickets in the final at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, t ...
, Gambhir scored a solid knock of 97 from 122 balls. Coming in to bat in the first over after the dismissal of
Virender Sehwag Virender Sehwag (born 20 October 1978) is a former Indian cricketer who represented India from 1999 to 2013. Widely regarded as one of the most destructive opener, he played for Delhi Capitals in IPL and Delhi and Haryana in Indian domestic c ...
, he anchored the Indian inning despite the early dismissal of both the openers. He had a good partnership first with Kohli, and then a match-winning partnership of 109 runs with
MS Dhoni Mahendra Singh Dhoni (; born 7 July 1981) is an Indian former international cricketer who was captain of the Indian national cricket team in limited-overs formats from 2007 to 2017 and in Test cricket from 2008 to 2014. He is also the curren ...
. 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 Phillip Joel Hughes (30 November 1988 – 27 November 2014) was an Australian Test and One Day International (ODI) cricketer who played domestic cricket for South Australia and Worcestershire. He was a left-handed opening batsman who play ...
of Australia and
Imrul Kayes Imrul Kayes ( bn, ইমরুল কায়েস; born 2 February 1987) is a Bangladeshi international cricketer who played for Khulna Division as a left-hand batsman and occasional wicket-keeper. International career He made his first-cla ...
of Bangladesh. However, while he was struggling in Tests, Gambhir enjoyed a rich run of form in ODIs, averaging 56.90 from 23 matches. Gambhir opened the batting in all four of India's Test defeats against Australia in 2011–12. He scored 181 runs at an average of 22.62. For his performances in 2012, he was named in the World ODI XI by the ICC. On 12 February 2012, Gambhir scored 92 off 111 balls in an ODI match against
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
at the Adelaide Oval, to help India win their first match against the hosts at that venue. It was also India's highest successful run chase in Australia. For his effort, Gambhir won the Man of the Match award. On 14 February 2012, against Sri Lanka, Gambhir yet again missed out on an ODI hundred when he was dismissed
run out Run out is a method of dismissal in cricket, governed by Law 38 of the Laws of Cricket. A run out usually occurs when the batsmen are attempting to run between the wickets, and the fielding team succeed in getting the ball to one wicket befo ...
for a fine 91 off 106 balls. This knock from Gambhir was instrumental in securing a thrilling tie in that match. In August 2012, the Indian selection committee handed him back vice-captaincy of the T20 squad for the World Cup.


Comeback

After a big absence from international cricket, on 8 October 2016, Gambhir was recalled for the Test-Match series against New Zealand, after showing good form in domestic cricket.


Retirement

Gambhir announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on 3 December 2018, ahead of his final match for the
Delhi cricket team The Delhi cricket team is a first-class cricket team based in Delhi, run by the Delhi District Cricket Association, that plays in India's first class competition, the Ranji Trophy and limited-overs Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Tro ...
against the Andhra cricket team in the Ranji Trophy on 6 December 2018. Gambhir went on to score 112 in his final innings, his 43rd century in first-class cricket. Gautam Gambhir began his new innings as a parliamentarian as he took oath as the Lok Sabha MP on 17 June 2019.


Gautam Gambhir Foundation

The Gautam Gambhir Foundation is the philanthropic initiative of Gautam Gambhir. It was started in 2014 and is based out of Delhi. He set up community kitchens in 2017 through the Foundation in Patel Nagar, Delhi, in a bid to make sure no one slept hungry in the city. The key project of the Foundation is to reach out to as many children of paramilitary martyrs as possible and empower them by supporting their entire educational needs. Apart from this, the GGF works with adolescent girls from underprivileged homes in generating awareness on nutrition, health and hygiene, and an effort to make Delhi green by planting trees the city to fight air pollution in the city.


Politics

On 22 March 2019, he joined the
Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...
(BJP) in the presence of Union ministers
Arun Jaitley Arun Jaitley (28 December 1952 – 24 August 2019) was an Indian politician and attorney. A member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Jaitley served as the Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs of the Government of India from 2014 to 2019. Jait ...
and
Ravi Shankar Prasad Ravi Shankar Prasad (born 30 August 1954) is an Indian politician and lawyer, from the Bharatiya Janata Party. A Member of Parliament since 2000, first in the Rajya Sabha (2000-2019) and then in the Lok Sabha (since 2019), Prasad has served as Un ...
. He was the party's candidate from
East Delhi East Delhi is an administrative district of Delhi in India. It is bounded by the Yamuna River on the west, North East Delhi to the north, Ghaziabad District of Uttar Pradesh state to the east, and Gautam Buddha Nagar District of Uttar Prades ...
in the
2019 Indian general election General elections were held in India in seven phases from 11 April to 19 May 2019 to elect the members of the 17th Lok Sabha. Votes were counted and the result was declared on 23 May. Around 912 million people were eligible to vote, and voter ...
. After his opponent
Atishi Marlena Atishi Singh who is also known as Atishi Marlena is an Indian politician, educator, political activist and MLA from Delhi. She is a member of the Political Affairs Committee of Aam Aadmi Party. She served as Advisor to the Deputy Chief Minis ...
challenged him to a debate, Gambhir declined her challenge, saying he doesn't believe in "dharna and debates." Gautam won the elections by 695,109 votes against
Atishi Marlena Atishi Singh who is also known as Atishi Marlena is an Indian politician, educator, political activist and MLA from Delhi. She is a member of the Political Affairs Committee of Aam Aadmi Party. She served as Advisor to the Deputy Chief Minis ...
and Arvinder Singh Lovely. He expressed his support to suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma for her controversial remarks on Prophet Muhammad.


Other work

Gambhir has started work at his constituency of East Delhi, installing CCTV cameras to tackle the issue of women's safety which has plagued Delhi in recent times. He is also the Brand Ambassador for
Pinnacle Industries Pinnacle Industries Limited also known as ''PIL'' is an Indian motor vehicle and interior manufacturing company based in Pune, Maharashtra. The company was incorporated in June 27, 1996 in the industrial city of Pithampur, located in Madhya Prade ...
' Pinnacle Specialty Vehicles.


References


External links

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Gautam Gambhir Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gambhir, Gautam Punjabi people 1981 births Cricketers from Delhi Living people India One Day International cricketers India Test cricketers India Twenty20 International cricketers North Zone cricketers Delhi cricketers Indian cricket captains Cricketers at the 2011 Cricket World Cup Recipients of the Arjuna Award Delhi Capitals cricketers Essex cricketers India Red cricketers India Blue cricketers Kolkata Knight Riders cricketers India MPs 2019–present National Democratic Alliance candidates in the 2019 Indian general election Indian sportsperson-politicians Recipients of the Padma Shri in sports