India's opening batsman Gautam Gambhir in action during a Test match. He has been selected for the remaining matches of the ongoing Test series against New Zealand. (source: Twitter)
India’s opening batsman Gautam Gambhir in action during a Test match. He has been selected for the remaining matches of the ongoing Test series against New Zealand. (source: Twitter)

Opening batsman Gautam Gambhir has made a comeback to the Indian national cricket team for the remainder of the Test series against New Zeland along with uncapped Haryana offspinner Jayant Yadav. While Gambhir replaced an injured KL Rahul, Jadav makes to the squad in place of fast bowler Ishant Sharma who missed the Kapur Test due to chikunguniya.

Gambhir who has been in terrific form during the recently held Duleep Trophy with scores of 77, 90, 59, 94, 36, will play international cricket after two years.

“Gambhir is definitely under consideration because he has been doing extremely well, and even the team management feels that with 12-13 Test matches coming up there needs to be some experience [at the top],” a BCCI official said.

Besides Gambhir’s sparkling form, Gambhir’s recall has a lot to do with the new Indian coach Anil Kumble who had earlier stated that his aim was to monitor not just squad players but also those on the sidelines. Kumble had reportedly met Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh during the Duleep Trophy, and had asked them to be mentally prepared to represent India again.

However, sources said it was not an unilateral decision by Kumble. He took the call only after consulting captain Virat Kohli who was blamed by many Gambhir fans had accused Kohli of petty politics for choosing Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan over Gauti for the ongoing series against Kiwis. Many of them attributed it to the constant run-ins between the two in the IPL. However, they have been proved wrong with Gambhir’s recall. After all Virat undoubtedly puts the team’s interests above all and winning is what matters the most to him.

Gambhir, 34, played his last Test in August 2014, on India’s tour to England. That series, too, was a comeback for him, as he was dropped in 2012 and missed India’s all Tests in 2013 due to lack of form. He has 4046 runs in 56 Tests at 42.58, with nine centuries, and was a regular in the Test team between 2008 and 2012, besides winning two World Cup finals for India. In 2009 he had won the Test Player of The Year too.

Have you watched these videos and photos of Gautam Gambhir? We bet you will enjoy them.

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