OTD: Gautam Gambhir was born in 1981

Gautam Gambhir was born in Delhi on October 14, 1981. Gambhir made his ODI debut on April 11, 2003, against Bangladesh. His Test debut came against Australia in November 2004 while he made his T20I debut during the 2007 World Cup. 

Gambhir played a total of 58 Tests and made 4154 runs at an average of 41.95. He scored nine centuries in Test matches. Gambhir’s highest score in Test matches came against Australia in 2008, when he scored 208 runs in the first innings. He was at the peak of his power in 2008, as he scored 1134 runs in just eight Test matches at an average of 70.87, ending as the second-highest run-scorer for India in the calendar year.

In ODIs, Gambhir made 5238 runs in 147 games at an average of 39.68. He scored 11 centuries in the format. His best performance in this format also came in 2008, when he scored 1119 runs in 27 games at an average of 46.62. Like in Tests, he was the leading run-scorer for India in ODIs that year. 

In T20Is, Gambhir amassed 932 runs in 37 matches at an average of 27.41 and a strike rate of 119.02. He scored seven half-centuries in T20Is.

Gambhir played a key role with the bat for India in the 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2011 ODI World Cup. In the T20 World Cup 2007, in whuch scored 227 runs in six innings and was the leading run-scorer for India. In the final, Gambhir made 75 runs off 54 deliveries and led India to a challenging total. In 2009, Gambhir was named in the World Test XI by the ICC.

In the ODI World Cup 2011, Gambhir scored 393 runs in nine matches at an average of 43.66 and scored four half-centuries. Gambhir scored 97 runs off 122 deliveries in the final of the tournament, which India won by beating Sri Lanka