Today we are talking about one of the biggest big match players in Indian cricket and if this player was not there playing for India then the 2007 T20I World Cup and the 2011 ODI World Cup would not have been won because he was the highest scorer for the Indian team in both those World Cup finals. He delivered for the country when it mattered most and that’s why he is one of the most respected cricketers in India. He was the best batter in the world for a number of years and we will talk about his records below.
Gautam Gambhir played 58 Test Matches for India in which he scored 4154 runs at a very good average of 41.96 in his test career. He has also scored 9 Test Hundreds. In the ODI format he has played 147 ODI Matches for India and in those Matches he has scored 5238 runs at an average of 39.68 with 11 ODI hundreds. He also played 37 T20I Matches for India so he was a good all format player. Let’s see which are the Top 5 Best Gautam Gambhir batting Performances.
75 vs Pakistan (2007)
The first innings in my list is obviously the tournament winning innings that he played in the 2007 T20I World Cup final thus ending the 24 year drought for India to win a major World tournament. To play such an extraordinary innings in the biggest match is special and to single handedly get the team to a match winning score was amazing. He made a brilliant 75 from just 54 balls with 8 fours and 2 sixes at a strike rate of almost 139. This innings will always be remembered by everyone and it was one of his best.
Check here Best Sachin Tendulkar Test cricket innings
150* vs Sri Lanka (2009)
One of the best ODI innings in the career of Gautam Gambhir came in this match vs Sri Lanka and in those times Sri Lanka was a very good team and India were chasing 316 to win in 50 overs which was tough. India were in a very bad spot at 23-2 when they lost both Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag. Then came in Gautam Gambhir and the youngster Virat Kohli and they both started taking the attack to Sri Lanka and they got a lot of boundaries and as a result they had a mammoth 224 runs for the third wicket and Gautam Gambhir stayed till the end making 150* in just 137 balls with 14 fours in the innings and it was one of the best chasing innings ever.
Check here Best Sachin Tendulkar ODI innings
97 vs Sri Lanka (2011)
A Gautam Gambhir best batting Performances list will be incomplete without the most important players innings of his career and this was the innings that made him an all time legend in cricket. He had already done something like this in 2007 but that was batting first, this time it was chasing a good total of 275 in 50 overs and then to be 31-2 and then for Gautam Gambhir to do what he did was special and will always be remembered. He made a World Cup winning 07 in 122 balls with 9 fours but the partnerships he had with Virat Kohli first and then MSD were the things that won India the match and the tournament. The only regret is wish he could have got 3 runs more.
Check here Best innings of Suresh Raina
82 vs Australia (2012)
This is an innings that might not be in everyone’s lists of the best Gautam Gambhir performances but it should be considering the occasion and the venue in which he did it and vs the opposition he did it against. It was the 2012 Commonwealth series in 2012 and India needed 270 to win vs a very good Australian bowling and Gautam Gambhir stood up for India again and scored a match winning 92 from 111 balls with 7 fours and yet again he showed why he was one of the best.
Check here Best innings of Sourav Ganguly
137 vs New Zealand (2009)
This is the best test innings in the career of Gautam Gambhir for a lot of and although it may not be his highest test score but the way in which he batted for 11 hours and the manner in which he saved this test match for India was extremely special to watch. New Zealand made a daunting 619 in their first innings and India got out for 305 in the first innings and in the follow on Gautam Gambhir stood up again and he just batted and batted and he allowed the other batters to play and he made 137 from 436 balls with 18 fours in it meaning he played so many dot balls and this was one of the best match saving test innings.
Also Read: Top 5 Best Rahul Dravid innings
