Former Indian cricket team batter Gautam Gambhir opened up about the only regret during his playing career. Gambhir played a brilliant knock of 97 in the 2011 ODI World Cup final but he was dismissed before finishing the game and then captain MS Dhoni ended up scoring the winning runs against Sri Lanka. In a recent event, Gambhir said that his regret was that he could not stay at the crease and finish the game himself despite playing a good innings. He also said that given a chance, he would like to “turn back the clock” and score the last run in the match that holds a special place in Indian cricket history.
“I wish I had finished that game. It was my job to finish the game, rather than leaving someone to finish the game. If I had to turn back the clock, I would go back there and score the last run, irrespective of how many runs I scored,” Gambhir said at a ‘Rise To Leadership’ seminar.
The 42-year-old did not have any disappointment for not being able to captain India for a long run.
“I have always thought about performing for the fans, and that has been my thought since the last year of my training career. In the middle, I got this honour of captaining India for six games. I tried doing it to the best of my ability,” he said.
“Otherwise, I have no regrets whatsoever because my job was not to captain the series. My job was to make my country win, and whichever team I play for, make that team win,” he added.
Gambhir appeared in a virtual interview with the BCCI’s Cricket Advisory Committee earlier this week and is widely perceived to be India’s next head coach after incumbent Rahul Dravid’s tenure comes to an end following the ongoing T20 World Cup in the West Indies.
However, Gambhir, who recently played a crucial role in KKR’s third title win in the IPL as team mentor, remained tight-lipped when he was asked about his prospects.
“I don’t see that far ahead. You are grilling me, asking me all tough questions,” he said.
“It is difficult to answer right now. All I can say is that I’m happy being here, just finished a brilliant journey (and) let’s enjoy that. I’m in a very happy space right now,” Gambhir said.
(With PTI inputs)
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