Gautam Gambhir Announces Retirement From The Game

Veteran batsman Gautam Gambhir, on Tuesday, announced his retirement from the game. The southpaw will always be remembered for his match-winning knocks in India’s victorious campaign at the ICC World T20 in 2007 and the 2011 World Cup.

In the inaugural edition of the World T20, Gambhir had slammed 75 to help India beat Pakistan in the final and lift the trophy. Four years later, he starred again when India took on Sri Lanka in the final of the 50-over World Cup.

Chasing 275 in the 2011 World Cup final was always going to be tough for India against a quality bowling opposition like Sri Lanka and the dismissal of Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar with only 31 runs on the board made the task even more gigantic.

Gautam Gambhir Announces Retirement From The Game
Gautam Gambhir

Another wicket would have put India in a serious trouble but Gautam Gambhir brought in all his experience and played a majestic innings to bail the Men in Blue out of trouble. The southpaw batted under crisis right from the first ball he faced and added 84 runs for the third wicket with Virat Kohli and then a match-defining 109 with skipper MS Dhoni before missing out on a well-deserved century by just three runs.

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His 122-ball 97 runs knock put India on the threshold of a historic win and Dhoni played another gem of an innings, scoring 91 runs off just 79 balls to ensure Gambhir’s performance did not go in vain as India lifted the holy grail of cricket after a long wait of 28 years.

However, a couple of years after the World Cup heroic, Gambhir lost his place in the team. After being out of the team for around three years, he returned to the Test team last year during the series against New Zealand and England in 2016. However, he was dropped soon after failing to impress.

Gautam Gambhir Announces Retirement From The Game
Gautam Gambhir (Credits: BCCI)

Gambhir took to Twitter to announce his decision, writing:

” The most difficult decisions are often taken with the heaviest of hearts. And with one heavy heart, I’ve decided to make an announcement that I’ve dreaded all my life. “

Gambhir retires after representing India in 58 Tests, 147 ODIs and 37 T20Is. He scored  over 10,000 international runs.

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