October 14 marks the birthday of one of India’s most celebrated cricketers, Gautam Gambhir. The two-time World Cup winner for India, Gambhir, one of India’s most decorated opening batsmen, turns 39 today and making the occasion even more special was the his former India teammate Yuvraj Singh, who came up with a special tweet to celebrate the occasion.
“Mr. GG @GautamGambhir Sending you loads of love and best wishes for your special day Birthday May you always continue to score big hits through your noble and selfless work for society Flexed biceps Waise cake kahan hai bhai?” Yuvraj tweeted.
Gambhir played pivotal knocks in the finals of the 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2011 50-over World Cup, which India won. In the T20 WC final against Pakistan, Gambhir top-scored with 75 propelling India to 157/5, in reply to which Pakistan fell short by five runs. Four years later, Gambhir walked in at No. 3 and top-scored once again with a knock of 97, as he and captain MS Dhoni forged a 109-run partnership for the fourth wicket, allowing India to recover from 114/3, chasing 275 to win.
{{/usCountry}}Gambhir played pivotal knocks in the finals of the 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2011 50-over World Cup, which India won. In the T20 WC final against Pakistan, Gambhir top-scored with 75 propelling India to 157/5, in reply to which Pakistan fell short by five runs. Four years later, Gambhir walked in at No. 3 and top-scored once again with a knock of 97, as he and captain MS Dhoni forged a 109-run partnership for the fourth wicket, allowing India to recover from 114/3, chasing 275 to win.
{{/usCountry}}Gambhir reached the pinnacle of the ICC rankings for batsmen in 2009 and the same year, was named the ICC Test Player. As captain, led Kolkata Knight Riders to two IPL titles – in 2012 and 2014. Gambhir, who retired from all forms of cricket in December of 2018, having scored over 10000 runs for India across all three formats, received the prestigious Padma Shri award in 2019.