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- Published: November 23, 2023 13:48
New Delhi: Former Indian cricketer and Member of Parliament, Gautam Gambhir, is regarded as one of the best openers the Indian cricket team has ever produced.
Gautam Gambhir is well known for his outspoken nature and on-point comments, and his bitter-sweet relations with some of his former teammates have always been loved by the fans.
In 2011 World Cup final, @GautamGambhir played his natural aggressive game even after India lost @sachin_rt and Virender Sehwag for nothing.
Imagine the pressure. Imagine the nerves. And Gautam Gambhir kept hitting boundaries. He didn’t bat for himself, he batted for India🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/bre0e5Kn8W
— Madhav Sharma (@HashTagCricket) November 18, 2023
Recently, while talking to Sportskeeda, Gambhir was asked who was his favourite batting partner of all time, and Gambhir’s answer actually everyone with his answer.
Gambhir who played many impactful innings for India, including his famous 75 runs innings in the 2007 T20i World Cup final, and also his 97 runs innings during the 2011 ODI World Cup finals, is mainly associated with players like Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar or even Virat Kohli, as all these players were top order of team India during his run with the national team.
But Gambhir actually picked a middle-order batsman as his all-time favourite batting partner.
Everyone thinks it’s Sehwag
Gautam Gambhir replying to the question of who he loved batting with the most said, “My favorite cricketing partner was MS Dhoni. People think that my favorite partner was Virender Sehwag, but I actually loved playing more with Dhoni, especially in white ball cricket.”
Partnership that won us WC after 28 years 🏆🇮🇳@MSDhoni – @GautamGambhir ❤ pic.twitter.com/PLqFYSzdfN
— ` (@WorshipDhoni) November 21, 2023
Dhoni sacrificed his runs for the team
Gautam Gambhir who is not very loved among the MS Dhoni fans, has gained this stature because of his critical assessment of Dhoni for being credited as the hero of the 2011 World Cup finals.
However, the southpaw also never backs down from praising his former captain, from time to time.
During one of his recent interviews, he credited MS Dhoni for being selfless and giving preference to the team ahead of his personal milestones.
Gambhir said, “If MS would have batted at No 3, I am sure he could have broken several ODI records, People always talk about MS Dhoni and his achievements as a captain, which is absolutely true. But I feel due to captaincy, he sacrificed the batter in him, and he could have achieved much more with his bat, which he didn’t. And this happens when you are a captain because then you put the team ahead, and you forget about yourself.”
“He started batting at No 6 or 7. If he had not been captain, he would have been India’s No. 3, and I think he could have scored more than what he has scored and could have scored more hundreds also. People always see MS with the trophies but in my opinion, he sacrificed his international runs for the team’s trophies,” he further added.
Gambhir Dhoni partnership
The most famous partnership between Gautam Gambhir and MS Dhoni came in the finals of the 2011 ICC World Cup when Gambhir (97) and Dhoni (91*) added 109 runs for the fourth wicket taking India to a position where only the formalities were left to win the finals.