Interacting with students of a university over four years ago in a video uploaded by Hindustan Times, former Indian batter Gautam Gambhir had revealed that he was on the verge of leaving cricket after not finding his name in the Indian ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 squad. Set to miss what was the first World Cup since his international debut, Gambhir had thought of ending an international career that was on the brink of turning three.
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As a matter of fact, Gambhir remained quite unlucky in terms of World Cup selections having out missed out on U-14 and U-19 World Cups previously. Always motivated to win title championships for the country, lack of an alternative career option inspired him to continue playing the sport in spite of a heartbreaking snub at the time.
“They didn’t pick me when Indian team went to West Indies. I had given up and really thought that I don’t want to play cricket and all that stuff. But then when I was sitting, one day I said, ‘If not cricket, then what?’. Probably I had no other options rather than just joining my dad’s business. I said, ‘Let me just play’,” Gambhir was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.
For the unversed, Gambhir wasn’t the first Indian batter to have had such feelings after missing out on a World Cup call as former batter VVS Laxman had also felt the same in 2003. A disastrous ODI campaign for the Indian cricket team was followed by Gambhir not only lifting ICC World Twenty20 later in the year but also finishing as India’s highest run-scorer in the competition.
Why Was Gautam Gambhir Handed World Cup Snub In 2007?
Gautam Gambhir, who played three ODIs against West Indies in January 2007, was dropped for the fourth one and the ensuing Sri Lanka series before the World Cup because the senior players had returned. If truth be told, this was enough a hint that he would miss the world event in the West Indies.
Frankly speaking, there was never a spot for him in the presence of specialist batters namely Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh and Robin Uthappa. The remaining two batting spots were consumed by wicket-keepers Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik.
Additionally, even Gambhir’s ODI career wasn’t up to the mark until the World Cup as he had just scored 480 runs in 19 matches at an average of 25.26. Apart from these lacklustre numbers, one can’t ignore the fact that he wasn’t even a regular member of the Indian squad at the time. Having played five ODIs in the first three months of 2006, his next ODI appearance had come in January 2007.
Having said that, post India’s horrific World Cup performance in Port of Spain, Gambhir was rewarded by being named in India’s ODI squads for the subsequent tours of Bangladesh, Scotland, Ireland and England. Hungry to prove a point, the left-handed batter had smashed a second ODI century in just his second outing in Bangladesh.
Since playing his first comeback ODI in May 2007, Gambhir scored 1,003 runs at an average of 43.60 including three centuries and five half-centuries across 28 innings in the next 12 months. This was enough for him to secure his place in the side.
It is to be noted that this period also included him top-scoring in Commonwealth Bank Series 2008 on the back of a century each against Sri Lanka and Australia. Gambhir, who scored 440 runs at an average of 55, never again scored an ODI hundred outside the subcontinent.
The following year, he was appointed as the vice-captain for what was his maiden Champions Trophy appearance. A dream that was broken in 2007 finally came true in 2011 when he was the highest run-scorer in the final of a title-winning World Cup campaign.
