It was a good day for Indian cricket team, on day 3 of the third and final Test of the ongoing series against New Zealand. India piled a massive total of 557/5 in their first innings, thanks to a 365-run partnership between Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane. Virat Kohli scored his second double hundred and Ajinkya Rahane scored his highest Test of 188 runs.
But, it was not the best of day personally for Gautam Gambhir, who was making a comeback to Test cricket after 2 years. Gambhir, who was called in as a replacement for KL Rahul after the first Test, scored 29 runs in the first innings. His fans were hoping that he would make a big score in the second innings to push the selectors for a spot in the squad for the next home series against England. But, much to the disappointment of Gambhir and his fans, he picked up a shoulder injury while fielding during New Zealand’s first innings. Gambhir tried hard to come out and bat in what many believe the deciding innings of his career, but he couldn’t carry for long as he had to walk back to the pavilion ‘retired hurt’ after the pain in shoulder triggered once again after he made a desperate dive to reach his ground.
VIDEO: Gautam Gambhir injures his shoulder while batting
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rSkICznaeo
https://twitter.com/SirJadejaaaa/status/785431546320781312?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/Madan_Chikna/status/785430017786339328?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Gautam Gambhir has opened batting. Was off field for long time due to injury. Since it’s external injury, allowed to bat #INDvsNZ #Cricket
— myKhel.com (@mykhelcom) October 10, 2016
And @GautamGambhir should thank the umpires for letting him bat. Come on Gauti, make it count #IndvsNZ https://t.co/bLVEw937TB
— Vikrant Gupta (@vikrantgupta73) October 10, 2016
https://twitter.com/ImAbhishek_/status/785427411173335041?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
I hope @GautamGambhir doesn’t have a serious injury @BCCI,Please consider him for upcoming tests against England.He was amazing in this test
— Apurv Chandrawal (@apurvjessy) October 10, 2016
True fighter… #Salute pic.twitter.com/30oj9Xuxi2
— Shilpa Mukherjee Chatterjee (@gautifan_shilpa) October 10, 2016
https://twitter.com/sgr76/status/785471453416214528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
@GautamGambhir are you ok gautam .please get well soon and give a blast to indian team.well deserved brave opener .good luck @imVkohli
— Abhinav Sharma (@coolabhinav2586) October 10, 2016
Gautam Gambhir was replaced by India’s Cheteshwar Pujara in the middle and India ended the day at 18 for 0. Gambhir’s fans would still be hoping that he comes out to bat tomorrow and score some runs to push the selector for a spot in the next Test series against England.
Gautam Gambhir has an uphill task ahead if he wants to represent India in Test cricket for some more years. KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan are also nursing their injuries and they will soon be available for selection. It’s a tough battle for the opening spot but we hope Gambir gets a fair trial to prove his worth, all over again.
