Gambhir thought of leaving cricket in 2007 after being left out of 50-over World Cup squad

Sep 19, 2019

Ahmedabad (Gujarat), Sep 20 (ANI): Cricketer-turned-politician Gautam Gambhir on Thursday stated that he thought about leaving cricket in 2007 after being left out of the 50-over World Cup squad. India had a disappointing 50-over World Cup in the Caribbean in 2007 as they were knocked out in the group stages. However, in the same year, the Men in Blue lifted the maiden T20 World Cup in South Africa under the leadership of MS Dhoni and Gambhir finished as the leading run-scorer in the tournament. "In 2007, when I missed the 50-over World Cup, that was the lowest moment in my cricketing career. I had given up on cricket. Before that, I had missed both U-14 and U-19 World Cups. In 2007 I thought I was the closest to play the World Cup, but when they did not include me in the squad, I had given up on cricket," Gambhir said. "Then I was chosen in Twenty-20 World Cup in 2007 and I got dismissed for a duck in the first match against Pakistan. But as fate has it, I finished as the leading run-scorer in the World Cup and we ended up winning the tournament so one should never give up," he added. The left-handed batsman was instrumental in India's World Cup-winning squads. The batsman played match-winning knocks in the T20 World Cup final in 2007 and 50 over World Cup in 2011. The cricketer announced his retirement in the year 2018 after completing 10,000 runs in List-A cricket.