This is for all the supporters of Indian cricket: Gautam Gambhir after receiving Padma Shri

Former India opener Gautam Gambhir, on Saturday, received his Padma Shri Award from President Ram Nath Kovind at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi. Gambhir was among the eight sportspersons conferred with the Padma Shri Award in 2019. Other sportspersons to receive the prestigious honour this year were national football team skipper Sunil Chhetri, wrestler Bajrang Punia, table tennis player Achanta Sharath Kamal, Kabaddi star Ajay Thakur and chess player Harika Dronavalli.

The Delhi lad is regarded as one of India’s best openers of all time. He represented the national team in 242 games across formats, amassing 10,324 runs including 20 hundreds and 63 fifties. The left-handed batsman scored 4154 runs in Test cricket at an average of 41.95, including nine hundreds. Gambhir played an important role in India’s impressive performances across formats in the second half of the last decade.

It was his partnership with Virender Sehwag in Tests that had helped India dominate bowlers across the world which ultimately resulted into India becoming the world number one Test for the first time in 2010. In ODIs, he scored 5238 runs in 143 ODI innings at an average of 39.68 and strike rate of 85.25, including 11 hundreds and 34 fifties.

His most important and memorable ODI innings came in the final of the 2011 World Cup in Mumbai he top-scored to help the nation win the coveted trophy after 28 years. In that tournament, he had scored 393 runs in 9 innings for India at an average of 43.66 including 4 fifties. He had also top-scored in the final of inaugural World T20 in 2007, helping India beat Pakistan to win the tournament.

Gautam Gambhir thanks his well-wishers and critics:

After being bestowed with the Padma Shri, Gambhir took to Twitter to dedicate it to his fans as well as his critics. Not the one to shy away from making bold comments, the legendary batsman said that both his supporters as well as his critics played a part in his illustrious journey, writing:

“This is for all the supporters of Indian cricket and my critics. Both have played a part in my journey…some day will discuss who played more than the other @BCCI #padmashriaward ”

This is for all the supporters of Indian cricket and my critics. Both have played a part in my journey…some day will discuss who played more than the other @BCCI #padmashriaward pic.twitter.com/zrMrAEikKB

— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) March 16, 2019

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