Gautam Gambhir Names The Toughest Bowler He Faced During His Playing Career
Published - 29 Dec 2023, 04:20 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 10:20 AM
Former India batter Gautam Gambhir has revealed the name of the toughest bowler he faced during his illustrious career. He was one of the best openers in the world for most part of his playing career.
He made his debut for India in 2003 and went on to represent the country in 58 Tests, 147 ODIs, and 37 T20Is. During his illustrious career, he scored 4154 Test runs at an average of 41.95, including nine centuries and 22 fifties. In ODIs, he scored 5238 runs at an average of 39.68 and a strike rate of 85.25. In T20Is, he scored 932 runs at a strike rate of 119.02.
Gautam Gambhir also starred in two World Cup triumphs for India. He was the highest run-scorer for India in the final of the 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2011 World Cup. In 2009, he was named as the ICC Test Player of the Year in 2009. During his career, he faced a number of legendary bowlers such as Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan, Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee, Shoaib Akhtar, Dale Steyn, James Anderson, and many more.
Gautam Gambhir names his toughest opponent:
Gautam Gambhir was recently asked to name the toughest bowler he faced during his career. The former India batsman was interacting with the fans on X through a Q & A session when he was asked the question. In reply, he picked former Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralitharan as the toughest bowler he faced, writing:
“One & only Muttiah Muralitharan”
One & only Muttiah Muralitharan https://t.co/pHEF4gEWUh
— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) December 29, 2023
Muttiah Muralitharan retired from international cricket as one of the most decorated bowlers in the history of the game. No bowler has picked up more wickets than him in Tests and ODIs. He is the only bowler to take 800 Test wickets and more than 530 wickets in ODIs.
He is also one of the only two bowlers who have touched the 500-wicket mark in ODIs. Incidentally, Muralitharan had dismissed Gautam Gambhir in 2009 to surpass Wasim Akram’s ODI record of 502 wickets. Meanwhile, Gautam Gambhir will be plying his trade as Kolkata Knight Riders’ mentor in the upcoming season of the IPL.
The World Cup winner was the mentor of Lucknow Super Giants in the last two seasons of the IPL before parting ways after IPL 2023.
