Gautam Gambhir Reveals Why He Nearly Quit Cricket In 2007

Gautam Gambhir turned out to be the hero India desperately needed in the final of the 2011 World Cup. India’s dream of winning the World Cup was in tatters after both the in-form openers Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar were back in the hut with just 31 runs on the board as the team chased a tough 275 under the lights against a strong Sri Lankan side.

Another wicket could have been a fatal blow to India’s hopes. But before Sri Lanka could make  further inroads in the game, Gautam Gambhir took the onus on himself to guide India to safety and eventually the win. The southpaw mixed caution with aggression to bat India out of trouble. He missed a well-deserved ton by just three runs but it put India on the way to a historic win.

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MS Dhoni then played an unbeaten knock of 91 to take the team home. Things, however, could have been very different for Gautam Gambhir had he not managed to control his emotions after not being selected for the 2007 World Cup. In a recent interview, the former India opener revealed he was agonisingly close to giving up on the game after the snub in 2007.

But just a few days later, Gambhir made it to the squad for the inaugural T20 World Cup and did not look back. Gambhir finished as the leading run-scorer in the tournament.and had also top-scored in the final against Pakistan.

“In 2007, when I missed the 50-over World Cup, that was the lowest moment in my cricketing career. I had given up on cricket. Before that, I had missed both U-14 and U-19 World Cups. In 2007 I thought I was the closest to play the World Cup, but when they did not include me in the squad, I had given up on cricket,” Gautam Gambhir was quoted as saying by ANI.

“Then I was chosen in Twenty-20 World Cup in 2007 and I got dismissed for a duck in the first match against Pakistan. But as fate has it, I finished as the leading run-scorer in the World Cup and we ended up winning the tournament so one should never give up,” he added.

The ex-cricketer-turned-politician, meanwhile, announced his retirement in the year 2018 after completing 10,000 runs in List-A cricket.”