Gautam Gambhir struggles in numbers

Tags: Gautam Gambhir, Cricwaves Columns

Published on: Jan 29, 2013

Indian opener Gautam Gambhir registered yet another failure in the final ODI at Dharamsala, raising serious question marks over the future of his international career. Gambhir’s 24 on Sunday was preceded by scores of 52,8,33 and 10 in the series.

Indian opener Gautam Gambhir registered yet another failure in the final ODI at Dharamsala, raising serious question marks over the future of his international career. Gambhir’s 24 on Sunday was preceded by scores of 52,8,33 and 10 in the series. He did not have a great time against Pakistan as well in the one-dayers, posting scores of 8, 15 and 13 in the three-match ODI series. For a while Gambhir managed to scuttle the criticism around him by doing well in one-dayers even while faltering in Tests, but in recent times his performances in one-dayers have also taken a beating. A closer lookat Gambhir’s downfall from the great heights he had touched in 2009-10.

ODI record since last century

Gambhir’s last ODI hundred came against Sri Lanka at Colombo in July 2012, and while that was not a long time ago, what he has done since is the worrying factor. In 10 matches that Gambhir has played since that match at Colombo, he has scored only 249 runs at an average of 25 with a highest of 88. Two of those matches were against Sri Lanka, against whom he has registered six of his 11 one-day tons. The highest of 88 came against Lanka in one of those clashes. The other eight games were against England and Pakistan at home, the figures for which have already been discussed –127 runs in five games against England and 34 runs in three matches against Pakistan.

Test record since last century

His numbers in Tests are even more staggeringly poor. When Gautam Gambhir smashed his 9th Test ton, against Bangladesh at Chittagong in January 2010, it was his fifth consecutive century, a record for an Indian batsman. Few would have imagined that the left-hander would not manage even a single Test hundred in the coming three years. As things stand, since that memorable run of five consecutive Test hundreds, Gambhir’s figures in the five-day format have been abysmal. In 26 Tests over the last three years, the Delhi batsman has managed to gather only 1329 runs at an unacceptable average of 30 with a highest score of 93.

A deeper analysis of his figures reiterates that he has struggled against all big sides irrespective of the conditions during this dreadful phase. In five Tests against Australia, Gambhir has scored 206 runs, averaging 20. In seven games against England he has managed only 353 runs at an average of under 30 and a highest of 65. Even while played five Tests against the relatively weaker New Zealand his record has not improved by much. He has scored 225 runs at average of 32 while three Tests against West Indies have produced 195 runs for him at an average of 39. Gambhir’s best record during this bad phase in against South Africa, four Tests for 280 runs averaging 40. Even that is at best mediocre. His home and away record during this phase is equally poor – average of 32 and home and 28 away.

--By A Cricket Analyst

Related News