- Political Affiliation:
- Bharatiya Janata Party
- Awards And Honors:
- Arjuna Award (2009)
Gautam Gambhir
What are Gautam Gambhir’s major achievements in international cricket?
Which team did Gautam Gambhir lead to IPL titles?
What awards has Gautam Gambhir received?
What has Gautam Gambhir done after retiring from cricket?
How did Gautam Gambhir start his political career?
Gautam Gambhir (born October 14, 1981, Delhi, India) is a former Indian international cricketer who featured prominently for the national and various franchise teams in a career that spanned most of the first two decades of the 21st century. He scored more than 10,000 international runs and played a key role in India’s 2007 Twenty20 International (T20I) World Cup and 2011 one-day international (ODI) World Cup victories, scoring the most runs for India in the finals of both. Gambhir also led the Indian Premier League (IPL) team the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to league titles in 2012 and 2014. After his retirement in December 2018, Gambhir became a cricket commentator, politician, and coach. He was the mentor of the KKR team that won the 2024 IPL, and in July that year he was appointed the coach of the Indian men’s cricket team.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) named Gambhir the Test Cricketer of the Year in 2009. In the same year he received the Arjuna Award, India’s second highest sporting honor. In 2019 he was awarded the Padma Shri, India’s fourth highest civilian honor.
Early life and career
Gambhir was born in Delhi to Deepak Gambhir, a manager of a textiles business, and Seema Gambhir, a housewife. He has one sister, Ekta, who is two years younger than him. Gautam Gambhir started playing cricket at age 10 while attending the Modern School, Barakhamba Road, in Delhi. His early cricket mentors were his maternal uncle Pawan Gulati, whom he lived with as a youth; coach Sanjay Bharadwaj of the Lal Bahadur Shastri Academy, who started working with him in 1991; and Raju Tandon of the Sports Authority of India, who coached him for four years starting in 1996. He graduated from Hindu College, University of Delhi. Gambhir made his first-class debut in the 1999–2000 season and List A debut in the 2000–01 season for Delhi. He also trained at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore (now Bengaluru), Karnataka, in 2000.
Gambhir emerged as a contender for the Indian national squad in 2002 when he scored a double century for the Indian Board President’s XI (a team of talented prospects chosen by cricket administrators) against a touring Zimbabwe team. In 2003 he was called up to the national side for an ODI against Bangladesh and scored 11 runs as the opener in a match that India won.
He married Natasha Jain in 2011. They have two daughters, Aazeen and Anaiza.
International career and World Cup wins
In 2004 Gambhir made his Test debut at age 23 in the final match of India’s home series against Australia. On a difficult pitch, Gambhir did not impress as India won a low-scoring consolation match. He scored his first Test century in December 2004 against Bangladesh, but his performances dropped in subsequent Tests, and he was on and off the team the next few years. Technical flaws in his batting were exploited at the international level, and he was not chosen for the 2007 ODI World Cup squad, a decision that led him to consider leaving the game. He was called up to the Indian team after it exited the World Cup at the group stage, following losses to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Gambhir marked his return in May 2007 by scoring a century during an ODI series against Bangladesh, signaling his resurgence.
The golden period of Gambhir’s career lasted from 2007 until 2011. He made his T20I debut during the inaugural T20I World Cup in South Africa in 2007 and was the second highest run scorer in the tournament, behind Australia’s Matthew Hayden. His 75 runs in the final against Pakistan was the top individual score by an Indian player in the tournament and helped power the team’s title win. He continued to score runs in domestic cricket and in 2008 captained Delhi to their first Ranji Trophy title in 16 years, scoring a century in the final.
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Gambhir cemented his place in the Indian Test team during this period as part of a formidable opening partnership with Virender Sehwag. In 2008 and 2009 he scored a total of seven Test hundreds, including a double century against Australia at his home ground of Delhi. In a three-match series hosted by New Zealand in 2009, Gambhir’s rearguard 137 runs scored in 643 minutes in Napier helped India escape with a draw and eventually win the series. During this phase he became the first Indian player to score five centuries in as many Tests, joining the legendary Don Bradman of Australia, South Africa’s Jacques Kallis, and Pakistani batter Mohammad Yousuf in achieving the feat.
Gambhir carried over his form to ODIs as well, scoring eight hundreds and 27 50-plus scores between 2007 and 2011. In India’s 2011 ODI World Cup victory at home, he was India’s second highest run scorer, after Sachin Tendulkar, and was the team’s top scorer in its win in the final against Sri Lanka. He also briefly served as captain for six ODIs in 2010–11, leading India to victory in all of them.
After the 2011 World Cup win, Gambhir’s performance declined. He was dropped from the national team, playing his last T20I for India in 2012 and last ODI in 2013. Gambhir made minor comebacks for the Test team in 2014 and 2016. He remained a key player in franchise cricket and continued to play domestic cricket until his retirement in 2018, scoring a century in his last match for Delhi against the Andhra cricket team.
Franchise cricket
In 2008 the 26-year-old Gambhir began his Indian Premier League (IPL) career with the Delhi Daredevils (now the Delhi Capitals), as part of a strong top order with Virender Sehwag and Shikhar Dhawan. He was Delhi’s top scorer in their first IPL game during the league’s inaugural season. After three years at Delhi, Gambhir signed with the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for $2.4 million, a record fee at the time, in the 2011 auction. He went on to captain the team to IPL titles in 2012 and 2014 and was its top scorer for four seasons.
Gambhir continued with KKR until 2017, then returned to Delhi as captain for his final IPL season in 2018. After lackluster results, he retired from all forms of cricket that year at age 37.
Life after playing career
Gambhir joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2019 and ran for election to India’s Lok Sabha (lower house of Indian Parliament) from the East Delhi constituency. He won, defeating the Indian National Congress candidate Arvinder Singh Lovely and Atishi of the Aam Aadmi Party, among others. He also continued to appear occasionally as a cricket commentator, analyst, and IPL mentor. In 2024 he chose not to defend his seat and stepped away from politics to focus on working as a cricket coach.
Gambhir was the mentor of the IPL’s new Lucknow Super Giants franchise in 2022 and 2023, guiding them to the IPL playoffs both years. He moved to KKR as mentor before the 2024 IPL season and played a key role in their run to their third title. In July 2024 he was appointed head coach of the Indian men’s cricket team, replacing Rahul Dravid.