Former England batter Geoffrey Boycott had once criticized former India batter Gautam Gambhir straight from the shoulder. Boycott, who used the word “rubbish” for Gambhir, claimed that he doesn’t have it in him to play Test matches in England.
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Boycott’s severe criticism of the left-handed batter had come during India’s tour of England 2014. India, who ended up losing a five-match series 3-1, returned with a combined series scoreline of 7-1 across a couple of Test series in England under former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Gambhir, who played 238 out of his 242 matches for India across formats in the first decade of his international career, hadn’t played cricket at the highest level for over 18 months before being recalled into the national squad for an overseas tour.
All Tests, Gambhir played his last four international matches across a period comprising as many years but never looked to be in control like he used to be in the past in spite of sound performances in domestic cricket and the Indian Premier League.
When Geoffrey Boycott Claimed That Gautam Gambhir Can’t Bat in England
Handed an opportunity in the fourth Test against England at Old Trafford, Gambhir returned with scores of 4 (7) and 18 (53) in an innings defeat. Boycott perhaps had had enough of Indian batters failing time and again in England to be an affront to Gambhir.
“Batters in this side are playing rubbish. And he [Gautam Gambhir] is now marking his crease and he’s one of them,” Boycott had said on-air while calling the match for Sky Sports Cricket after then-England captain Alastair Cook invited India in to bat first in the fifth Test at The Oval.
Indian batters’ form was pretty shambolic at the time that all it took for them to lose a wicket was four balls. Facing legendary pacer James Anderson, a hesitant Gambhir was stuck between playing and leaving to only edge the ball to wicket-keeper Jos Buttler.
“Well, he is rubbish, isn’t he? I told ya. He can’t bat in England. I’ve seen him play nearly all of his 50 [56th then] Test matches [on] flat decks in India, where the ball doesn’t bounce, it doesn’t do much. Watch this leave, he can’t get his bat out of the way. That’s just crazy batting. Can’t play Test match cricket like that,” a fuming Boycott added at the time of Gambhir’s dismissal.
Gambhir, who followed a golden duck in the first innings with a suicidal run-out in the second, didn’t play another Test match for the next two years.
Gautam Gambhir Test Record in SENA Countries
Gambhir, whose terrible Test record in England saw him scoring 127 runs across 10 innings at an average of 12.70, never really enjoyed batting in the country irrespective of the format.
That being said, his overall record in SENA countries was fairly decent. In 14 Tests, Gambhir had scored 995 runs at an average of 36.85 including two centuries and five half-centuries. Furthermore, he averaged 40 as an opening batter in SENA Tests. If England is removed from this filter, Gambhir averaged more than 50 across nine Tests in South Africa, New Zealand and Australia.
Addressing the claim that Gambhir played “nearly all of his Tests in India”, readers must note that the opener played 34 Tests in India in comparison to 24 away from home. Interestingly, Gambhir averaged better away from home (43.61) than in India (40.73) in this format.
