Gautam Gambhir is one of the finest batters to have played the game. Known for his excellent game against spinners, Gambhir also took the attack to the pacers at his will.
Gautam Gambhir made significant contributions to India’s twin World Cup victories this century, and also led KKR to their only two IPL titles. Post cricket, Gambhir has been a constant presence in the commentary panel and also joined politics to do good for the public.
You may like him or not for his opinions on your favourite players, but you’d damn sure respect Gautam Gambhir. Here are a few reasons why we all should respect Gambhir:
The most clutch player for India
Gautam Gambhir is perhaps the most clutch player India have had. On the biggest of all occasions, the southpaw stood up with his bat and rallied the batting around him.
In the 2007 T20 World Cup final versus Pakistan, he scored 75 runs off 54 balls in India’s total of 157. Then in the 2011 World Cup final against Sri Lanka, batting at number 3, the left-hander scored 97 runs after India lost both the openers early in the chase of 275. He romped KKR into a couple of IPL finals too, where his leadership on and off the field made difference in the franchise’s fortunes.
Speaks his mind
As a cricket commentator or analyst, not many experts get blunter than Gambhir. He gives his opinion in a straightforward manner and without any consideration of the trolls on social media. In the past, Gambhir has regularly been critical in his observations about Kohli’s captaincy for Team India and in the IPL or when slamming websites for giving credit to MS Dhoni for India’s success only. While he gets trolled for his comments sometimes, Gambhir will continue to speak the facts, his opinion in his fiery style.
The philanthropic side of Gautam Gambhir
The former cricketer started a philanthropic initiative, Gautam Gambhir Foundation, in 2014 based out of Delhi. He set up community kitchens in 2017 through the Foundation in a bid to make sure no one slept hungry in the city.
He had also reached out to as many children of paramilitary martyrs as possible and offered help in supporting their entire educational needs. Apart from this, the GGF works with adolescent girls from underprivileged homes in generating awareness on nutrition, health and hygiene, and an effort to make Delhi green by planting trees in the city to fight air pollution. In 2018, Gambhir celebrated ‘Hijra Habba’ with the transgender community and wore a sari and bindi.
Gautam Gambhir the politician
On 22 March 2019, he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as the party’s candidate from East Delhi and emerged victorious in the 2019 Indian general election by a heavy margin. Without wasting any time Gambhir started work at his constituency of East Delhi, installing CCTV cameras to tackle the issue of women’s safety which has plagued Delhi in recent times.
While you may question and doubt the commitment of other politicians in the country, not Gautam Gambhir, who gave his blood, sweat, tears for his country on the field, and also has been working hard since taking power as a politician for the betterment and upliftment of Delhi. Gautam Gambhir has also started 4 ‘Jan Rasoi’ in Delhi, through which he serves free meals to thousands of people everyday.
