Gautam Gambhir announces retirement from all forms of cricket after 15-year long international career

ICC World Cup 2011 and World T20 2007 final hero, two-time IPL winner Gautam Gambhir announced retirement from all forms of the game with Ranji Trophy fixture against Andhra Pradesh starting on 6 December at his home ground in Delhi to be his final assignment. Gambhir on Tuesday announced his retirement news on Facebook via an 11-minute video . After 15 years of international cricketing career the 2009 ICC Test Player of the Year decided to call it a day. [caption id=“attachment_3364782” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo of Gautam Gambhir. Getty Images[/caption] The left-handed opening batsman represented India in 58 Tests, 147 ODIs and 37 T20Is in his career spanning 14 years. Gambhir has ended his career with a tally of 10,324 in international cricket. Gambhir also led Kolkata Knight Riders to two Indian Premier League championships in 2012 and 2014. The 37-year-old has been constantly denied national call-up for last 2 years. Gambhir last featured for the national side against England in a Test match at Rajkot. Gambhir holds the distinction of top scoring in both– 50-over World Cup (97) and World T20 (75) finals – that helped India lift the trophy. In an emotional video Gambhir said, “As a batsman I have always valued timing. I know the time is just right. I am sure its sweet as well.” Before the 2018 IPL auctions, he chose to part ways with the franchise in order to make himself available for his home team Delhi. However, the decision backfired as he did not only have a bad season with the bat but had to step down as the captain of Delhi Daredevils after the team lost matches consistently, he explains his decision to play for his home side in the video. Gambhir made his debut in 2003, in an ODI, against Bangladesh in Dhaka. In first-class cricket, Gambhir accumulated 15,041 runs and a massive 10,077 runs in List A cricket.