Ranji Trophy 2017/18: Gautam Gambhir Sizzles In Season-Opener

Sending a timely reminder to the selectors of his abilities, discarded India opener Gautam Gambhir scored his 40th first class century in the ongoing Ranji Trophy game against Assam to not only bail Delhi out of trouble but also put them in a commanding position.

After captain Ishant Sharma’s five-wicket haul helped Delhi to bowl out Assam for 258, the capital-based side began disastrously as Unmukt Chand and Dhruv Shorey were dismissed with only 44 runs on the board. However, Gambhir along with Nitish Rana, who had sizzled in this year’s Indian Premier League, steadied the ship. Gambhir was looking in red-hot form right from the word go and reached his fifty off just 65 balls with the help of 9 cracking boundaries.

The World Cup-winning star, who was stripped of captaincy prior to the start of the season, scored 8 more boundaries and took 105 more balls to reach his next fifty to bring up his 40th first-class century and start the season with a bang.

Nitish Rana, on the other hand, matched his illustrious partner shot for shot and he too brought up his century to help Delhi took a strong grip on the game.  The duo added 207 runs for the third wicket before Abu Nechim sent back Rana for 110. Gambhir was batting on 133 when the report was being written and Delhi were 261 for 3.

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Gambhir’s international career, meanwhile, is currently off the track at the moment. The southpaw, who was India’s highest-scorer in the final of 2007 World T20 and 2011 World Cup, made a return to the Test team last year but failed to grab the limited opportunities and was consequently dropped.

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