Harbhajan Singh Hails Gautam Gambhir As ‘True Champion And Fighter For India’
Jan 9, 2019 at 3:33 PM
Veteran spinner Harbhajan Singh hailed Gautam Gambhir as a true champions and fighter after the latter announced retirement from the game.
Gautam Gambhir, on Tuesday, decided to bring an end to his illustrious career. Gambhir would always be remembered fondly for his fighting character. No matter what the situation was or the conditions were, Gambhir rarely disappointed. Who can forget his gutsy, stoic knock of 137 against New Zealand in Napier that helped India save the game against all the odds. Gambhir had batted for more than 600 minutes to save the game.
But he will be more remembered for his knocks in the final of two World Cups. In the inaugural edition of the World T20, Gambhir had slammed 75 to help India beat Pakistan in the final and lift their first and only title till date. Four years later, he starred again when India took on Sri Lanka in the final of the 50-over World Cup.
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Chasing 275 in the 2011 World Cup final was always going to be tough for India against a quality bowling opposition like Sri Lanka and the dismissal of Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar with only 31 runs on the board made the task even more gigantic.
Another wicket would have put India in a serious trouble but Gautam Gambhir brought in all his experience and played a majestic innings to bail the Men in Blue out of trouble. The southpaw batted under crisis right from the first ball he faced and added 84 runs for the third wicket with Virat Kohli and then a match-defining 109 with skipper MS Dhoni before missing out on a well-deserved century by just three runs.
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His 122-ball 97 runs knock put India on the threshold of a historic win and Dhoni played another gem of an innings, scoring 91 runs off just 79 balls to ensure Gambhir’s performance did not go in vain as India lifted the holy grail of cricket after a long wait of 28 years.
And Harbhajan Singh’s emotional tribute perfectly summed up Gambhir’s career for India. The veteran spinner took to Twitter to wish Gambhir on his retirement, writing:
“Gauti I wish you all the best going forward brother..u have been a true champion and fighter for india ?? lots of love”
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Gauti I wish you all the best going forward brother..u have been a true champion and fighter for india 🇮🇳 lots of love pic.twitter.com/uTx0pgwKII
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) December 4, 2018
Meanwhile, Gambhir retires after representing India in 58 Tests, 147 ODIs and 37 T20Is. He scored over 10,000 international runs.