Gambhir retires, Andhra tie last
The next Ranji Trophy game against Andhra will be my last day in the sun. It is all coming to an end from where it started at Ferozshah Kotla. GAUTAM GAMBHIR
NEWDELHI: Former India captain and opener Gautam Gambhir announced his retirement from all forms of cricket in a career that was highlighted by matchwinning innings in two World Cup finals.
Gambhir, 37, who had been playing IPL and Ranji Trophy after he lost his place in the Indian team to younger batsmen after 2016, made his Test debut in 2004 and went on to play 58 Test matches, forming one of the most lethal opening batting partnerships with Virender Sehwag.
The duo put together 4412 runs in 87 innings, which is an Indian record. He also played 147 ODIS and 37 T20 Internationals, topping his limited-overs career with a Man-of-the-match knock of 97 in the 2011 World Cup final against Sri Lanka and an equally important 75 in the
2007 World T20 final against
Pakistan. He was also part of the team that won India’s firstever tri-series in Australia in 2007-08.
“The next Ranji Trophy game against Andhra (starting Thursday) will be my last day in the sun. It is all coming to an end from where it started at Ferozshah Kotla,” Gambhir wrote in his retirement letter to the media. “As a batsman, I have always valued timing. I know the time is just right. I am sure it is sweet as well.”
Gambhir is also among the most successful IPL captains, having won two titles with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) — in 2012 and 2014. He also led KKR to three play-offs apart from the two titles between 2011 and 2017. Last year, he played six games for Delhi Daredevils, a team he had represented between 2008 and 2010.
He led India in six ODIS, winning all six of them, including whitewashing New Zealand in a home series in 2010. Over the past year or so, he struggled with the bat in IPL and Ranji Trophy, which probably prompted him to quit. He has scored just one fifty in Ranji this season, in the last game, and made just 85 in six IPL games for
Delhi Daredevils.