Every year on his birthday, on October 14, Gautam Gambhir gets wishes from millions of his fans across the globe.
People remember Gambhir’s incredible heroics in the finals of the only two ICC World Cups the senior men’s team has won in the 21st century – he was India’s top-scorer in both the T20 World Cup 2007 final against Pakistan and the 2011 World Cup final against Sri Lanka.
The KKR fans will always remain in his debt to lead their franchise to their only two IPL titles so far – in 2012 and 2014; in the 2012 final, Gautam Gambhir’s KKR team denied MS Dhoni’s CSK a hat-trick of IPL titles.
People would give an account of the 42-year-old’s spree of charity works, many of which he doesn’t post on social media, but silently keeps helping the needy.
One aspect of Gautam Gambhir’s career that most fans don’t remember is that he has an absolutely clean slate record as India’s captain! Yes, as India’s captain.
Did Gautam Gambhir captain India?
Yes, Gautam Gambhir led India in 6 ODIs – 5 vs New Zealand and 1 vs West Indies – in 2010 and 2011, and India won all six of those ODIs.
With MS Dhoni either rested or injured, Gambhir was given the interim captaincy. Under Gambhir’s captaincy, India hammered New Zealand 5-0, the New Zealand team of Martin Guptill, Brendon McCullum, Ross Taylor, and Daniel Vettori. The Kiwi side that would then reach the semi-final of the 2011 World Cup was disdainfully blown away by Gambhir’s side.
The skipper led from the front, and was the top performer, bagging the Player of the Series award for his 329 runs.
The thing that sets Gautam Gambhir apart from other captains is how he is always, without missing a beat, the first one to praise his team players when his side does well. In a series win when he won the Player of the Series award, he lavished praises for R Ashwin, who was a youngster then and was taking steps to cement a place in the Indian team.
“Ashwin for sure was most impressive.” Gambhir said then.
His tactically astute nous aside, Gautam Gambhir is someone who is invariably looked up to by his teammates. Be it a senior player like Jacques Kallis or a junior player in Manish Pandey, everyone wants to draw inspiration from Gambhir.
The Delhi-born isn’t the coolest one on the field, but he is certainly the one who will always back his players in the dressing room. It is what prompted Joy Bhattacharjya, the former KKR Team Director, to say that Gambhir is a leader who would take a bullet for his team and his players.
“@GautamGambhir is a man who would take a bullet for his team.”
I have been saying this since 2010 that Indian cricket is very fortunate to have a man like Gautam Gambhir. He is the most selfless and large-hearted human being you will ever know.
— Madhav Sharma (@HashTagCricket) January 9, 2024
One can only wonder at this point, had the selectors put Gambhir in charge of the Indian team – in particular of the Test team after the side was blanked 8-0 in England and Australia in 2011/12 – what newer heights the team could have reached then.
It was also a conundrum one would have thought when the BCCI appointed MS Dhoni as the mentor for the T20 World Cup 2020 in the UAE, and India crashed out from the group stage only. As much as Dhoni has been successful in running his magic (or juju) on the field, India need someone like Gautam Gambhir in the dressing room, especially when the fans are suffering from a decade-long ICC trophy drought.
Also Read: 3 Reasons Why Steve Smith Will Definitely Be A Great Test Opener
