“10,000 runs aren’t that important. What truly matters is how many major tournaments you’ve won,” said India’s coach and former batter Gautam Gambhir.
Gautam Gambhir’s international career might not look extraordinary if judged solely by runs and centuries. Though he led India a few times as a stand-in captain, he never became a full-time skipper. Still, he carries no regrets. According to Gambhir, winning major tournaments is far more valuable than just scoring runs or captaining in many matches—and that’s where he feels fulfilled.
Once ranked the No. 1 Test batsman in the ICC rankings, Gambhir hit peak form between October 2008 and January 2010. He scored 8 centuries in just 10 Tests during that golden period, reaching 9 Test hundreds in just 28 matches.
However, he never scored another century in the remaining 30 Tests of his career. His last hundred came against Bangladesh in Chattogram in January 2010. After that, he went century-less in the longest format.
He ended his Test career with 4,154 runs in 58 matches, averaging 41.95 with 9 centuries. Interestingly, after that Bangladesh tour, his average was as high as 57.50, but it declined in the following years.
In ODIs, Gambhir played 147 matches, scoring 5,238 runs at an average of 39.68, including 11 centuries and 34 fifties. He also scored 932 runs at 27.41 in 37 T20 internationals.
He captained India in six ODIs when the regular skipper was unavailable. In a recent interview with CNN-News18, he was asked if he regrets not getting more leadership opportunities. Gambhir dismissed the idea and instead pointed to his biggest accomplishments.
“I don’t regret anything. I have two World Cup medals at home. How many Indians have that? Very few… Only a handful have two World Cup medals.”
“Yes, if you look back with a negative lens, you could say I could have played 100 Tests… or captained more… But ambition never ends, does it?”
Gambhir was instrumental in both India’s 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 ODI World Cup wins. In both finals, he played crucial innings. According to him, delivering in big matches matters far more than career milestones like 10,000 runs.
“I never got to play U-14 or U-19 World Cups. I even missed the 2007 ODI World Cup. But the first World Cup I played—T20 in 2007—we won. And in 50-over cricket, I won the first World Cup I played in too. I scored runs in both finals. How many can claim that?”
“10,000 runs aren’t that important. What truly matters is how many major tournaments you’ve won, and how many World Cup medals you have at home.”
In both finals, Gambhir top-scored for India. He made 75 off 54 balls in the 2007 T20 World Cup final and steadied the innings with a vital 97 in the 2011 ODI World Cup final after early setbacks.
As India’s coach, Gambhir also led the team to victory in the ICC Champions Trophy this February.
