Gautam Gambhir expresses gratitude after being conferred with the Padma Shri honour

Former India opener Gautam Gambhir added another feather to his cap when he was conferred India’s fourth-highest civilian award Padma Shri on the eve of the 70th Republic Day. The 37-year-old former cricketer who quit the game in December last year expressed his gratitude and felt it’s an honour for him and it will bring more responsibility for him.

Gambhir played for the national team between 2004 and 2016 and scored over 10,000 international runs with 20 hundreds. The former cricketer who was member of two World Cup-winning Indian teams and is known for his outright views on diverse issues, scored a hundred in his final competitive match which was against Andhra on Ranji Trophy.

He played domestic cricket for two years after playing his last international game which was a Test match against England in November 2016.

Waiting for the day when Gambhir the person betters the cricketer

Gautam Gambhir, who won Arjuna Award in 2009, said the honour of Padma Shri was something he “accept with gratitude” and added that he is waiting for the day when the human being in him will better the record of him as a cricketer. “That will be my day, my award to myself,” the former Delhi captain said in the tweet which was made through his official account.

It’s an honour I accept with gratitude. But it’s an honour which also comes with responsibility. I’m living for the day when Gautam Gambhir the human being beats Gautam Gambhir the cricketer. That will be my day, my award to myself. #PadmaAwards2019

— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) January 25, 2019

Gambhir scored over 15,000 runs and 43 tons in domestic cricket and played a crucial role in both the finals of the World T20 in South Africa in 2007 and ICC World Cup at home in 2011. The former batsman, who has an all-win record as the captain of India in ODIs, is also known for playing a marathon match-saving innings of 137 against New Zealand in Napier in 2009 during which he batted for 643 minutes.

Seven other sportspersons apart from Gambhir were handed the prestigious award and one of them isan ace footballer and Indian captain Sunil Chhetri who recently overtook Argentine legend Lionel Messi’s record of scoring most number of international goals.

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