Happy Birthday Gautam Gambhir: India’s World Cup hero turns 38

Former India opener and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Delhi, Gautam Gambhir turned 38 on Monday. Gambhir retired from international cricket in December 2018 before plunging into politics for his second innings.

Gautam Gambhir played a crucial role in India's 2011 World Cup win. The former left-handed opener played one of the biggest knocks of his career in the World Cup final against Sri Lanka at the Wankheded Stadium in Mumbai. India lost Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar early in chase of 275 but Gambhir not just steadied the ship but also helped India inch closer to the historic win with a 122-ball 97.

Gambhir said winning the World Cup was his childhood dream and that he was happy to help fulfill the dreams of not just the cricketers but millions of people in the country. "When I look back now, it has been a very long journey and a very satisfying one. I was just 2 years old when India won the first World Cup but my childhood dream was always to be part of a World Cup-winning team, that was probably my only dream as I was growing up," Gambhir had said after his retirement.

Gambhir also shone in India's World T20 2007 title win. The left-handed opener played a match-winning knock of 75 in the final against Pakistan in Johannesburg.

Gambhir played 58 Tests scoring 4154 runs, 147 ODIs with 5238 runs and 37 T20Is with 932 runs. Gambhir, who has a total of 20 international hundreds, also was one of the most successful captains in Indian Premier League. He led Kolkata Knight Riders to 2 IPL titles.

In his second innings, Gautam Gambhir found instant success as he the cricketer-turned-politician won the East Delhi seat in the Lok Sabha elections, defeating Congress' Arvinder Singh Lovely by a margin of 3.91 lakh votes.

Gautam Gambhir's former teammates and fans took to social media to send wishes on the occasion of his 38th birthday.

Wish you a great birthday @GautamGambhir paaji! May god bless you with lots of success and good health.?? pic.twitter.com/yG3JvsvNUj cheteshwar pujara (@cheteshwar1) October 14, 2019

Happy birthday GG! Best wishes for the year. @GautamGambhir pic.twitter.com/p4ehIEFXyP R P Singh ????? ?????? ???? (@rpsingh) October 14, 2019

Wishing the man who was instruemental in india winning the T 20 world cup 2007 and world cup 2011, former opening batsman of Indian cricket team and the current Member of Parliament @GautamGambhir a very happy birthday. pic.twitter.com/synEABGeXF Sidharth Nath Singh (@SidharthNSingh) October 14, 2019

Wishing @GautamGambhir a very Happy Birthday ????
Here's a throwback to one of his memorable innings in a run-chase against Sri Lanka in 2009 #HappyBirthdayGautamGambhir pic.twitter.com/uHgH8Tq8YO BCCI (@BCCI) October 14, 2019

One of only four players to have scored centuries in five consecutive Tests ??

Happy birthday Gautam Gambhir ?? pic.twitter.com/JfPkXuAmzT ICC (@ICC) October 14, 2019

A very happy birthday to @gautamgambhir. Two winning performances in two World Cup finals, 2007 and 2011. How many players can claim that. And a captain willing to take a bullet for his team. This is a moment I managed to capture during his KKR days. pic.twitter.com/1rP0eTKz62 Joy Bhattacharjya (@joybhattacharj) October 14, 2019

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??? ???? ??? ??? ?? ????? @GautamGambhir ?????? ?? pic.twitter.com/lPoDTmTL0d Parvinder Awana (@ParvinderAwana) October 14, 2019

Happy birthday @GautamGambhir keep smiling bro, ppl like u more that way;) #birthday pic.twitter.com/NN6tD8jCcq Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) October 14, 2019

Wish you a very happy birthday Gauti bhai @GautamGambhir.
May you continue to make a difference in millions of lives & lots of success come your way! pic.twitter.com/tLvhnFHSHl Suresh Raina???? (@ImRaina) October 14, 2019

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