Nightmarish run for Gautam Gambhir

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Gautam Gambhir’s worst fears have come true. Back in 2010, Gambhir was in a zone that everything he touched turned to gold.

Hurt after missing out on the 2007 World Cup, Gambhir went back to the drawing board, scored tons of runs in the domestic arena before making a comeback.

It was the start of a new innings for Gambhir and he grabbed it with both hands. He then transformed his off-field relationship with Virender Sehwag into a prolific opening pair.

In the 13 Tests he has played since his return in 2008, Gambhir scored eight centuries — with five in a row — which also included the 11-hour-marathon hundred to save the Napier Test against New Zealand. It was a special one as it showed that the short-stature man was made of sterner stuff.

But all along during the success, Gambhir emphasised the need to score as much runs when in form. “You need to make the best use of your best form as along as it is with you,” he would say.
Cut to 2012, those words will be ringing in Gambhir ears.

The painful 12-ball two runs that he managed on Saturday is a pale shadow of the Gambhir two years ago.

The 30-year-old, who was racking up hundreds at will at one time, has not scored a century in more than two years.

His last Test hundred was back in Jan. 2010 against Bangladesh, and thereafter has managed only 1044 runs in 39 innings at an average of 28.22.

Those statistics are a mighty fall from his best days, when he piled up 2692 runs from 50 innings, with an impressive average of 57.28.

His downfall has quite naturally coincided with India’s slump — they lost all the overseas matches since then and have dropped off the perch to No. 5 in the rankings.

On Saturday, he looked completely out of sorts in his 17-minute stay on a surface that was doing a bit, more so because of the overcast conditions than the extra-ordinary abilities of the Kiwi bowlers.

Surprisingly, in these ‘Testing’ times, Gambhir has been impressive in the one-dayers. Since his last Test ton, he has scored four centuries and 15 fifties, including a match-winning 93 in the World Cup final. It’s only time he translated that form into Test matches as well.