Gambhir in IPL5

Responsibility lies with me and Kallis for playoffs: Gambhir

NEW DELHI: After leading his side to the top with a facile win over Delhi Daredevils, Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Gautam Gambhir said he, along with senior batsman Jacques Kallis, will have to shoulder the responsibility of steering the team to playoff stage.

Gambhir has been leading from the front by scoring 457 runs so far in the ongoing edition.

"If someone has to change the game, it should be Kallis or me. We don't want (Brendon) McCullum or Yusuf Pathan to change the game. It's our responsibility because we are the experienced guys," Gambhir said at the post-match press conference. "You don't want them to stop playing their natural game. The guys like me and Kallis need to change the game and that is what responsibility and experience is all about."

KKR thrashed Delhi Daredevils by six wickets in a lopsided contest here last night to emerge as the table leaders in the IPL. They now have 17 points and are almost assured of a place in the knock-out stage.

Gambhir said his team is playing in the IPL not just to compete but win matches.

"For me, every game is tough and important. When I go on to the field, I just want to win the match. It's not about competing in the IPL, it's about winning every time. I always look to win matches because you don't want to go back to the dressing room on a losing note. You want to go happy and for that feeling to come, you have to win matches.

"We have some quality players in the dressing room. Someone like Kallis, who is such a legend of the game. Brendon McCullum and Brett Lee are also there. When you have such players, you don't need to motivate them. They all are thorough professionals. One thing important for us is that we need to play well as a unit," he said.

An aggressive approach to batting has been the success mantra for KKR skipper Gambhir.

"I've been hitting the ball well this season. You need to be aggressive in your approach. You have to pass on that body language among teammates which is very important. As I mentioned before, you don't go there to compete but to win matches. For that to achieve, you need to be aggressive," said the opener.

With four more games remaining before the playoffs, Gambhir warned his side to guard against complacency.

"KKR still have a long distance to cover with four more games remaining before the playoffs. We need to guard against complacency. I am keeping my fingers crossed, just trying to give our best in every match.

"Till the time, I am leading the KKR or whatever team I'm going to lead (in the future), there will be no complacency. For me, every game is as important as the first game or the finals. That's what KKR is all about," he said.

For Gambhir, the form of McCullum augurs well for KKR. "He has always been in form. In India, there is a problem, if someone gets a fifty he is in the form, if someone does not get a fifty, he is out of the form. How he's batting and hitting the ball is more important to me. It was all about contributions. Even in the last game, he got 40-odd runs and we got 100-run partnership, that's more important rather than individual scores. He has always been a key player for us."

Gambhir Penitence on Desperate Performance v/s Australia

                                          Gautam Accepted for Irresponsible Game

Gautam Gambhir feels his team has warranted the scathing criticism they are receiving from all quarters for losing their seventh consecutive overseas Test. The India opener said the team has accepted criticism and is looking forward to next week's fourth and final Test at Adelaide.

The Indians, sans Zaheer Khan, hit the nets here at the Western Australia Cricket Association Ground (WACA) yesterday. They will leave for Adelaide today afternoon. "I am not someone who will hesitate to take responsibility. We have not played well. It's as simple as that. I will be the first one to accept it," Gambhir told reporters after India's training session yesterday.

"If we want to be the No 1 Test-playing nation in the world again, we have to do well overseas. That has always been my stand. You have to do well in England, South Africa and Australia. Whatever backlash is happening in India, we are ready to accept it. We have given the opportunity to people back home to give whatever they are giving (us). There is a lot of expectation from us. They all want us to do well. And with the kind of batting line-up we have, we should have done well," he added.

Gambhir said the side was trying to stay motivated for the task ahead. "It is disappointing but the mood is absolutely fine. When you are playing for your country and there is another Test match coming around in six days, you need to be up for it. You still have to turn out and be positive, try and look at it as a new Test and try to win. I know things have not gone our way, but we still need to be positive. There is a one-day series coming up. Hopefully we can play well in Adelaide, and take the momentum into the one-day series."

Gambhir felt it was unfair to hold VVS Laxman as the sole culprit for the batting woes. "Look, my question is, why criticize one person? He has been a legend of the game. It's not only Laxman but all of us (who have failed to score runs). The top six, top seven should be criticized equally. We have all failed as a unit. So why only Laxman?

"He has served Indian cricket for a long, long time. There should not be anyone who should be deciding about his retirement. It should be him. Rather than criticizing just one person, you should be criticizing all seven batsmen. The entire team is behind him (Laxman). I have always believed you should not criticize only one or two people," he added. 

Opening batsman Gautam Gambhir corrected the critics blaming VVS Laxman for India's Test defeats in Australia, saying the entire veteran batting line-up was responsible.
"There was a lot of expectation from us on this tour... the kind of batting we have, we've let the entire nation down," Gambhir told reporters on Tuesday.
India were trounced inside three days by an innings and 23 runs in Perth last Sunday, the side's seventh straight loss in an overseas Test.
"Hopefully we can turn things around in Adelaide (and) put some smiles on the faces of the people back home," Gambhir said.
It has been a lopsided series in terms of a contest with the young and the inexperienced Australia pace attack exposing India's fragility against swing and seam bowling.

"Whatever backlash that's happening in India, we are ready to accept. We've given opportunity for people to criticize," Gambhir admitted. "We have not played well. I'll be the first to accept that. If you want to be the No. 1 Test playing nation, you have to start winning overseas, whether it is Australia, England or South Africa."
Laxman, 37, has managed 102 runs in six innings at an average of 17, and there have been suggestions by former India players that he should retire.
Although India's chief selector K Srikkanth has said Laxman's place in the lineup is safe, the 133-Test veteran, who made his name in Test cricket with his match-winning 281 against Australia in Kolkata in 2001, has been struggling lately.
After averaging 22.75 in India's 4-0 series loss in England, Laxman scored 298 runs at 99.33 at home against the West Indies before embarking on the tour to Australia.
"Why criticize one person. He's been a legend of the game. Why only VVS Laxman?" Gambhir said. "The top seven (batsmen) should be criticized. We all have failed as a unit. He's served Indian cricket for a long, long time. No one else should decide when it's best for Laxman to retire. He should make that decision."

Struggling Indian opener Gautam Gambhir today conceded that his team has let the entire nation down in the ongoing Test series against Australia and has failed to live up to the expectations. India trail the four-match series 0-3 and are in danger of a second successive Test whitewash abroad after the England debacle last year.

                

                                                                 Video of  Gautam Gambhir
                               

Gambhir and Sachin facing his toughest test at SCG

                           India fight to save Sydney Test after Clarke triple ton

India fight to save Sydney Test after Clarke triple ton and depended on Gambhir, sachin and
V.v s laxman..

Sehwag (4) missed out again, as he attempted a wide delivery to be dismissed by Hilfenhaus. Hilfenhaus dismissed Sehwag while he cracked the wall and the backbone of India's innings as the visitors trail by 354 runs.
Gautam Gambhir and Sachin Tendulkar ensure no further damage is done, as India score 114/2 at stumps on Day 3 of the second Test at Sydney on Thursday.

Guatam Greeting him Half Century At SCG

Duncan Fletcher said two days ago that leaving those deliveries alone was not going to be the solution, that Gambhir needed to bat in his natural, positive way. He said when Gambhir is feeling good about his game, he scores off the same deliveries. Gambhir hasn't felt good about his game on this tour. He has been nervous, pushing at balls in the hope they hit the middle of the bat. It is easier to say that being positive is the solution, though, than actually pulling off the transformation.

Finally Gautam Gambhir is back amongst runs, hits a fabulous fifty marking his 19th Test fifty as he scored 68* at the end of play on Day 3. After a long time, looked like the batsman we knew as he was defending and driving the ball with assurance.

Dravid (29) and Gambhir (68*) added 82 runs for the 2nd wicket before Hilfenhaus dismissed Dravid to cause serious trouble for India. Trailing by 354 runs with 8 wickets in hand, Sachin Tendulkar and Gambhir have a tough task at hand as they resume play on Day 4.

And we hope at the Day 4 playing both sachin and gambhir for a good and long partnership and playing
 the tough role for india..

On Day 3 many chances made by the australian bowler but unfortunately they missed the chance, and
fortunately Indians have some chance and they don't miss it.. Goutam gambhir dropped on 66 by
Australian wicket keeper Brad Haddin... and seen that gambhir will take advantage of the chance or
not at the day 4 at SCG.



                                                 


                    

Gambhir Needs Positive Approach

Gambhir Needs Positive Approach In Test cricket for success

In the second test at Sydney Gautam Gambhir again collapse in early morning in the Ininngs first over
on duck... And also creating a question about him  test career, Due to struggling in test cricket from two years..

                                   Gambhir departed on duck in a very first over at Sydney

India cricket coach Duncan Fletcher said on Tuesday conceded that struggling opener Gautam Gambhir will have to be a "lot more positive" in his approach to come out of his lean patch in the ongoing Test series against Australia but defended the team's batsmen despite their continuing poor run.

        And also said by Fletcher "As for Gautam, we are working on him to be very positive. It's more mental, he's been very tentative, pushing at deliveries. He's an attacking batter and needs to be a lot more positive in his approach.

"As for today's ball, it would've been difficult to leave a delivery pitching on leg and going across you. A lot of left-handers could've been out to it," Fletcher said.

Gambhir departed for a naught in the very first over and set the tone of India's collapse which saw the tourists fold up after tea. 
So the last chance for gautam to show his attitude in the field against Australia in the second Ininngs..

Australia tour: Make-or-break case for gautam Gambhir

Australia tour is battle & the key to come back for Gambhir:-

Melbourne: Usually dependable, Gautam Gambhir is now bringing deep creases into the forehead of his skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni with his consistent failures of the past two years, and the current tour could be a make-or-break one for the opening batsman.

It's a law of diminishing returns for the left-hander who struck his last century 17 Test ago and averages 32.75 and 31.33 in the last two years. That the solitary century was against lowly Bangladesh does not help his cause either.

A fearless cricketer, usually adept at both front and backfoot, against pace and spin, Gambhir first stamped his presence in the Indian set-up with a one-day century -- at Gabba in Brisbane -- on these very shores four years ago.

He virtually took wings thereafter, striking three centuries and 1134 runs from eight Tests in 2008. He did even better in 2009 when he slammed four centuries from five Tests and averaged 90.88 from the year.

So impressive was the little lad from Delhi that his partner and senior Virender Sehwag was moved enough to term him the best opener of India since Sunil Gavaskar hung his boots in 1987.

"Gambhir is the only opener I have known who is at ease in any form of the game. Gavaskar was a great opener in Tests and one-dayers and Gambhir has adapted wonderfully to the Twenty20 format too. He is just too good," Sehwag had said.

"Just see how he kept adapting. I can't think of anyone better than Gambhir in terms of technique, temperament and style. To me, he is the best opener India has had since Gavaskar," said Sehwag.

Rewards were swift to come as Gambhir shot up on the scales of being next captain and was the highest paid cricketer, worth Rs. 11 crores, in this year's IPL.

Gambhir's dip in form was pushed into the background because he still was able to play a few innings of extreme significance -- like the 93 and 64 he made at Newlands early this year.

His 97 in the World Cup finals made him the darling of Indian fans and his consistent failures somehow did not quite register in the eyes of the same fans or media.

However, with India consistently losing its foothold on foreign soil and Gambhir coming a cropper, the current tour could be a make-or-break one for the likeable young man.

Gambhir averaged 17.00 from the three Tests he played in England -- albeit there was a head injury which impeded his cause -- and his three and 13 at the MCG now has not helped his cause. That he could average only 39.00 at home against the West Indies in between is a cause for worry.

As of now, Gambhir is a sure starter for second Test starting in Sydney on January 3 and Dhoni's public posturing is in support of the left-handed opener.

"He's someone who is batting really well in the nets. He just needs to take that extra step and do the same thing into the middle. Once you play 30-40 deliveries as an opener, everything is sorted out," Dhoni said.

A sensitive man, Gambhir's failures appear to have affected him as a person. Never a very outgoing person in public, Gambhir appears to have withdrawn further into his shell and now has a slinking presence at nets or in the field.

India needs Gambhir - and Sehwag - to strike in Sydney. That famous middle order usually need that start to come on to their own. There are not many instances, especially abroad, when the famous Delhi pair of openers have collectively failed and the middle order has been able to repair the damage.
          
In a way success of the opening duo is inter-linked and so is the success of team putting runs in excess of 300 runs which is absolutely critical if India is to recover lost ground in the ongoing series.