"I realized that he could be my go-to man" - When Gautam Gambhir sought help of an Australian legend to try and revive his career 

Former India batter and current head coach Gautam Gambhir struggled to make an impact at the international level during the last few years of his career. He was dropped from the Test side after India's 2-1 loss to England at home in 2012 and played only four more Tests in his career, the last of which came in 2016. He never played ODIs after January 2013, while his last T20I was in December 2012.

At a time when his international days seemed all but over, Gambhir turned to former Australian opener Justin Langer in 2015, in what seemed like a last-ditch attempt at reviving his career. He did play two Tests against England towards the end of 2016, but was dropped after managing only one fifty in four innings.

Speaking about his decision to train under Langer in Perth, Gambhir had explained: (as quoted by ESPNcricinfo):

"I met JL [Langer] during the last Champions League last year (2014) when he was touring with Perth Scorchers as their coach. We spoke about a few things, about my batting, and I realized that he could be my go-to man to work on my game."

While there were plenty of question marks over his batting technique and flaws that had crept into his game, the southpaw had stated that his aim at seeking Langer's assistance was not to focus on specific areas of concern, but to work on the overall development of his game and take it to the next level.

"I'd read Langer's interviews and his books. I could relate to him a lot. He too is an intense character like me and these things pushed me to come here," the current Team India head coach had commented.

Apart from cricket skills, Gambhir's stint with Langer in Perth also saw him taking part in gymnastics and martial arts sessions along the Western Australia players. Speaking about the experience, the 43-year-old had said:

"The entire thing is beautifully married into the cricket program and there is logic in what these guys do. After taking part in these sessions I understood that gymnastics was focused at helping the boys improve their fielding by making them do various stretches and martial arts was trained at bettering the footwork and agility of the players."

Gambhir ended his international career with 58 Tests, 147 ODIs and 37 T20Is, scoring 10,324 runs across the three formats at an average of 38.95, with 20 hundreds and 63 fifties.

---

Gautam Gambhir's international stats starting 2012

From the start of 2012 to his last Test in 2016, the left-hander played 13 matches in the red-ball format, scoring 607 runs at an average of 26.39, with a best of 83. In ODIs, he played 23 matches from 2012 to 2013, scoring 838 runs at an average of 36.43, with two tons. Gambhir played 14 T20Is from February 2012 to December 2012, scoring 311 runs at an average of 25.91, with a best of 56*.