Veteran Indian opener Gautam Gambhir, who played a pivotal role in India’s two World Cup triumphs, announced retirement from cricket on Tuesday, saying the noise of ‘It’s over Gauti’ has triumphed over his will to continue.
The 37-year-old, in a video message on his social media pages, said the Ranji Trophy game against Andhra Pradesh starting Thursday will be his last competitive match.
The aggressive opener was India’s top-scorer in the finals of the 2007 World T20 in South Africa and the 2011 ODI World Cup, both of which the country won.
“The next Ranji Trophy game against Andhra will be my last day in the sun. It is coming to an end where it all started at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground,” Gambhir said in the more than 11-minute long video post.
Gambhir made 58 Test appearances for India, accumulating 4154 runs at an average of 41.95. His 147 ODI games fetched 5238 runs, while in 37 T20 Internationals, he scored 932 runs.
The aggressive left-hander, who has of late made a name for his outspoken views on political issues as well, had a prolific first-class career, which spanned 197 matches and produced 15,041 runs. His List A run count stands at 10,077.
Willing to go through the same “aches and pains” and “fears and failures” all over again even in his next life as a cricketer, Gambhir said being the top run-getter in the two World Cup finals would remain the high point of his career.
“I think someone up there was writing my script but looks like now he has run out of his ink! But along the way he wrote some fascinating chapters,” he said.
Farewell messages poured in from the cricketing community for the man affectionately called Gauti.
Plenty of fans sent their wishes to Gambhir as well.
Of course, there had to be a cheeky tweet or two.
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