Skip to main content

Gautam Gambhir: Tribute to a Persevering, Honest Man and Career

There is a news coming out of Delhi Daredevils' dressing room that Gautam Gambhir has decided to forego his $550,000 salary in the wake of disappointing performance of the team so far in the season. For the first time in history of IPL, a player would play for his team 'absolutely free'. For ones who are busy converting this figure into Indian rupee, that's close to INR 3.5 Crores. A game and tournament that are solely based on the premise of earning 'loads of money', that's exemplary gesture from one of the finest and hardworking cricketers from India. You wouldn't expect anything less anyway from Gambhir. He wears his heart on his sleeves. A pretty chuffed up guy who wouldn't tie the shoelaces until and unless he is prepared to win a game of cricket. Moreover, his humanitarian works off-late has endeared him to masses. He is nationalist and hasn't made a fuss out of it.

I know him from the time he was grinding it out in domestic cricket. He was in for the national reckoning back in even 1999. There were always two three names in domestic cricket who were hovering around for national call-up and Gambhir was one of them. I remember his debut, against Aussies in Mumbai Test, 2004. He was out for 3, caught behind on McGrath bowling and it wasn't a good shot. I thought at the moment: was this guy really deserving of all this hoopla? Now 14 years after that, he has amassed thousands of international runs and I have become more understanding of our great game. Dhoni always says that it's not always about the result, process must matter at the end of the day and Gambhir was part of a renaissance of Indian cricket. He has served his country well and with distinction.

And for that, I and many of my compatriots shall be grateful and humbled. This post offers a fitting, three fingers royal salute to a great man and competitor.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

P.S. Hoffman & Joaquin Phoenix: The Master

My infatuation with the movies is well known but my involvement with the actors and their characters is even more heartwarming. There are innumerable movies that I saw simply because they featured my favorite actors, however they themselves were not great. Examples could be infinite, however for the sake of this article I'll have to produce something here. Anger Management for Jack Nicholson (boy, isn't he a legend?), Swing Vote for Kevin Costner, Snatch for Brad Pitt, Legends of the Fall (Brad Pitt), Leon: The Professional, Immortal Beloved, Bram Stroker's Dracula, State of Grace & Prick up your ears; all for Gary Oldman (mind you, he is a chameleon). Meanwhile, I started accumulating some of the finest performances by some of the legendary actors of all time. Very recently, as anyone who follows me regularly knows, I grew very much fond of the craft and artistry of Daniel Day-Lewis. He is a fine, fine actor whose study and impersonation of a character is often pictur...

A Monumental 30-years Wait for Premier League Title is Finally Over for Liverpool

Finally, yeah finally. Liverpool, my beloved lads in Reds conquered the England. 30 years. It's been a long wait but this title run was worth the wait..... From the bottlers of 2013-14 to the one point loser of 2018-19, to the Champions of 2019-20; it's been a remarkable story I am chasing after since 2004-05 and I have seem many come and go but Liverpool's RED stuck to me and Jurgen Klopp's mentality monsters just bulldozed their way through the English Premiere League title after 30 years in such a way that it seemed it was never ever far away from our grasp. Manchester United, Manchester City, Everton, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur; look away now, guys.....this moment is ours to savour. There was a time when you laughed at us thinking how in hell Liverpool became 18 times champions of English Football bit this sweet 19th will remind you for a long, long time how we became 18-time English Champions at the first place. A huge shout-out to my man, Steven Ge...

Film Essay: Room (2015)

This is an appreciation post for Oscars Best Feature Film Nominee, the number 7th, Room (2016). Every once in a while in English-speaking world, a courageous director comes up with an audacious project that blows your mind away and you just couldn't fathom what you really experienced. These words might sound hollow if I am going to describe the authenticity of Room (2015). Whatever I shall be writing hereafter shall in no way do justice to the brilliance of this movie and I cannot possibly come up with any more adjectives to ornament it for they all would fall short. So let me narrate you the experiences of my fellow colleagues who are more popular, widely read and certainly more accomplished than me: Rotten Tomatoes: Led by incredible work from Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay, Room makes for an unforgettably harrowing – and undeniably rewarding – experience. Richard Roeper (Chicago Sun-Times) : The most impressive piece of filmmaking I've seen in 2015, and one of the best...