10 individual cricket peaks in recent times

Gautam Gambhir (2008-09)

Gambhir plays a shot against New Zealand in 2009

Gautam Gambhir might be out of favour from the national side, but rewind to the latter part of the previous decade, and Gambhir had become one of the stars of an already glittering Indian batting side. He almost quit the game after being dropped from the 2007 World Cup, saying he “doesn’t feel like playing anymore”. But months later, he took India to the T20 title with crucial knocks at the top. 2008 and 2009 were golden years in Gambhir’s career, both in Tests and ODIs, a period which saw him achieve the ICC Test player of the year award, and briefly, the position of No.1 batsman in Tests.

In the 2008-09 season, he scored five of his nine Test tons, against Australia, England and New Zealand. His average that season lingered around 85. In that period, he scored five ODI centuries as well.