Top 10 knocks by Gautam Gambhir

#6 138 vs New Zealand at Jaipur, 2010

Gambhir's 116-ball knock of 138 helped India comprehensively defeat New Zealand

After beating New Zealand 1-0 in the 3-match Test series, the Men in Blue began the ODI series on a winning note thanks to a wonderful century from Virat Kohli. The second ODI was held at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur and India elected to field first.

Fifties from Scott Styris and Martin Guptill took New Zealand to 258/8 in their 50 overs. India got off to a good start thanks to openers Gautam Gambhir (who was appointed the captain for the entire series) and Murali Vijay. The duo added 87 for the first wicket before Vijay was bowled by Daniel Vettori for 33.

Virat Kohli came in to join Gambhir at the crease and the two comfortably took the match away from New Zealand through their partnership of 116. While Kohli batted steadily, Gambhir’s sublime timing and footwork made his innings look aggressive. The southpaw dealt in boundaries as India inched closer to victory.

Gambhir brought his century off 89 balls with a brilliant boundary over midwicket. Kohli was dismissed for 64 but Gambhir continued to dominate the Kiwi bowling and India won the match by eight wickets with their skipper ending his innings at 138 from 116 balls. The southpaw was declared the Man of the Match and would later be adjudged the Man of the Series as India whitewashed New Zealand 5-0.

#5 150 vs Sri Lanka at Colombo, 2009

Gambhir's 150 was the highest score by a batsman at the Premadasa Stadium for a good four years

India’s tour of Sri Lanka in early 2009 was going pretty well for them as they clinched the 5-match by winning the first three games. The venue for the fourth ODI was the same as that of the previous two ODIs - the R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo.

India won the toss and elected to bat first. The visitors were dealt an early blow as they lost Virender Sehwag for just 5. However, that early setback did not prevent Gambhir from holding back. The southpaw dominated the Sri Lankan bowling and played some brilliant shots with sublime timing and footwork.

Gambhir was given brilliant assistance by MS Dhoni and the duo added 188 for the 2nd wicket before MSD was dismissed by Sanath Jayasuriya. Following Dhoni’s dismissal, India lost Yuvraj Singh and Irfan Pathan soon but Gauti continued to dazzle and reached his century with a brilliant lofted shot over extra cover.

Gambhir reached 150, helping India cross the 300 mark. He was eventually dismissed by Muttiah Muralitharan, who with 503 ODI wickets, surpassed Wasim Akram as the leading wicket-taker in ODIs.

India ended their innings on 332/5 and in reply, the hosts could only score 265. Gambhir was adjudged the Man of the Match for his solid effort.