“After more than 15 years of cricket for my country I want to retire from playing this beautiful game.” said Gambhir.
Former India opener Gautam Gambhir on December 4 announced his retirement from all forms of cricket via a video post on his Facebook page.
"After more than 15 years of cricket for my country, I want to retire from playing this beautiful game," said Gambhir.
The third highest run-scorer for India among Test openers, Gambhir has represented India in 58 Tests scoring 4154 runs at an average of 41.95. He has nine hundreds and 22 fifties to his name in Test cricket. The Delhi batsman has also played 147 ODI matches and 37 T20 Internationals. He was a part of the World Cup winning squad in 2011 and played a major role in India lifting the cup with his 97 off 122 deliveries in the final against Sri Lanka.
Gambhir has also tasted considerable success in the Indian Premier League (IPL), leading Kolkata Knight Riders to two IPL titles. However, he had been facing growing criticism for his lack of form in recent years. His career hit a low point last season when he gave up leadership of Delhi Daredevils midway through the league to Shreyas Iyer.
In his video, Gambhir admits that the thought of retirement has been playing in his mind for a while now saying, “Each time I got out playing for India, or KKR or DD, this thought would turn into a sharp disturbing noise and walk with me all the way to the dressing room shouting, ‘It is over Gauti.’”
With him finally deciding to call an end to his cricketing career, questions have been raised as to what's next for the former opener. Reports have claimed that Gambhir is set to contest in the next general elections from Delhi on a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ticket. And his recent tweets taking a jibe at Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal over the National Green Tribunal (NGT) fine have only added fuel to those rumours.
As to what Gambhir decides to do after his retirement will only be clear in the coming days.
