A chance for Gautam Gambhir to make his retirement memorable

A couple of days ago, Indian cricketer, Gautam Gambhir decided to call it quits from all forms of cricket. Undoubtedly, he has had an incredible career and has arguably been one of the greatest cricketers India have ever produced. However, the last few years weren’t memorable for Gauti by any stretch of the imagination. He last donned the national colours back in a Test match against England in 2016.

He was sidelined after the Rajkot Test and that marked the end of his international career. The 37-year-old was also an integral member of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL), albeit he also represented Delhi Capitals, then Daredevils. In fact, he was speculated to play a crucial role for Delhi franchise in the T20 tournament but was released ahead of the next edition.

Gambhir tantalizingly short of a ton  

Earlier he said the match between Delhi and Andhra Pradesh in the ongoing Ranji Trophy would be his last in competitive cricket. The encounter is currently taking place his home-ground Feroz Shah Kotla and Gambhir has a chance of making his last match a memorable one. The southpaw is presently not out on 92 runs from 154 deliveries with the help of eight boundaries at the close of play on the opening day.

Delhi won the toss and opted to bowl first. However, Ricky Bhui scored a magnificent 187 from 270 balls with 26 fours and a six to take Andhra to a competitive score of 390 runs. The lower-middle and lower order also chipped in with useful scores. Thereafter, Gautam came out to bat with Hiten Dalal. Both cobbled together a stand of 108 runs. Manish Golamaru dismissed Dalal to break the stand.

At the other end, Gambhir didn’t take undue risks and built another useful partnership, this time with skipper Dhruv Shorey. He has had a decent campaign thus far, having scored 154 in Delhi’s last two matches. Ahead of the third day’s play, Gambhir would have butterflies in his stomach and would be keen to get back on the park and score those eight runs to breathe a sigh of relief.

Aftab Alam interview –

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