Gautam Gambhir Height, Age, Wife, Family, Biography & More
Bio/Wiki | |
Nickname | Gauti |
Profession(s) | Cricketer, Politician |
Physical Stats & More | |
Height (approx.) | in centimeters- 168 cm in meters- 1.68 m in feet inches- 5’ 6” |
Eye Colour | Dark Brown |
Hair Colour | Black |
Cricket | |
International Debut | ODI- 11 April 2003 against Bangladesh at Dhaka Test- 3 November 2004 against Australia at Mumbai T20- 13 September 2007 against Scotland at Durban |
International Retirement | 4 December 2018 (from all formats of cricket) |
Jersey Number | #5 (Indian) #5 (Domestic) |
Domestic/State Team | Delhi, Delhi Daredevils, Essex, India Red, Indian Board President's XI, Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Cricket Association President's XI |
Records (main ones) | • Record of most runs (1269 runs) in the 2008/09 season. • Most ODI centuries in 2008 by an Indian. • Most Test centuries in 2009 by an Indian. • The 1st Indian & 4th overall cricketer to hit 5 centuries in 5 consecutive Test matches. • The 1st Indian player to score 300+ runs in 4 consecutive Test series. • The 2nd cricketer (after Sir Viv Richards) to hit 11 fifties in 11 consecutive Test matches. • In IPL 2017, Gautam Gambhir and Chris Lynn made a record opening stand of 184 runs while batting for Kolkata Knight Riders against Gujarat Lions. |
Awards/Honours/Achievements | 2009- ICC Test Player of the Year award 2009- Arjuna Award (India's 2nd highest sporting award) 2019: On 16 March, the President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, honoured him with Padma Shri |
Career Turning Point | His performance in the 2007-08 tour to Australia, after which he cemented his place in the Indian team. |
Politics | |
Political Party | Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) |
Political Journey | • On 22 March 2019, he joined BJP • He contested the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections and won against Congress' Arvinder Singh Lovely by a record margin of 3,91,222 votes • On 2 March 2024, he announced his decision to quit BJP and politics. [1]Mint |
Personal Life | |
Date of Birth | 14 October 1981 |
Age (as of 2022) | 41 Years |
Birthplace | New Delhi, India |
Zodiac sign | Libra |
Signature | |
Nationality | Indian |
Hometown | New Delhi, India |
School | Modern School, New Delhi |
College/University | Hindu College, New Delhi |
Educational Qualification | Graduate |
Coach/Mentor(s) | Coach- Sanjay Bharadwaj, Raju Tandon, Naveen Chopra Mentor- Pawan Gulati |
Religion | Hinduism |
Caste | Khatri |
Food Habit | Non-Vegetarian |
Address | A bungalow in Rajendra Nagar, central Delhi |
Hobbies | Playing badminton, Meditation, Yoga, Listening to music |
Controversies | • In 2007, during the 3rd ODI against Pakistan at Kanpur, he had a verbal fight with Shahid Afridi, after having a collision with each other. • In 2010, during an Asia Cup, Pakistan's Kamran Akmal made a loud appeal against Gambhir, which made Gambhir angry and they had a heated argument, but Umpires and players intervened to stop them. • In 2013, during an IPL 6 match between Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Kolkata Knightriders, Gambhir and Virat Kohli had an ugly spat. After getting out, instead of walking back, Kohli made some remarks which angered Gambhir, after which both started abusing each other until Rajat Bhatia intervened. • In 2017, cricketer Gautam Gambhir came to know that two pubs in Delhi- Ghungroo and Hawalat, owned by Gautam Gambhir, (The pub owner with the same name as cricketer Gautam Gambhir) intentionally used cricketer Gambhir's name as a tagline. Being a teetotaller, cricketer Gambhir didn't like it, sent numerous requests, and even a legal notice. But after no response from the pub owner, he filed a complaint against them. In January 2018, the Delhi High Court restrained the pub owner from using his name as their tagline. • When he was contesting the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections from the East Delhi Constituency, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) accused Gautam Gambhir of being involved in the distribution of "obscene and derogatory" pamphlets against Atishi Marlena. However, Gambhir dared Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to prove charges against him or quit. He said- "If he [Arvind Kejriwal] can prove that I have anything to do with this pamphlet filth, then I will hang myself in public. Otherwise @ArvindKejriwal should quit politics. Accepted?" • On 1 May 2023, he was fined 100% of his match fee for an onfield clash with Virat Kohli. The clash took place at the end of an IPL match between Lucknow Super Giants and Royal Challengers Bangalore at Lucknow's Ekana stadium. Reportedly, the trigger point of the clash was an altercation between Kohli and LSG's Naveen-ul-Haq that took place during the break between the 16th and 17th over. Kohli was also fined 100% of his match fee, while Naveen was fined 50% of his match fee. |
Girls, Affairs & More | |
Marital Status | Married |
Affairs/Girlfriends | Natasha Jain |
Marriage Date | 28 October 2011 |
Marriage Place | A farmhouse in Gurugram |
Family | |
Wife/Spouse | Natasha Jain (m. 2011-present) |
Children | Son- None Daughters- Aazeen Gambhir (born in 2014), Anaiza Gambhir (born in 2017) |
Parents | Father- Deepak Gambhir (Textile businessman) Mother- Seema Gambhir (Homemaker) |
Siblings | Brother- None Sister- Ekta Gambhir (Younger) |
Favourites | |
Cricketer | Sourav Ganguly |
Food | Rajma chawal, Butter chicken, Dahi bhalla |
Actor | Sylvester Stallone |
Film(s) | Bollywood- Kahaani, Vicky Donor, Paan Singh Tomar Hollywood- Rambo series |
Singer | Jagjit Singh |
Song | "Woh Kagaz Ki Kashti" by Jagjit Singh |
Travel Destination | United Kingdom |
Style Quotient |
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Car Collection | BMW Gran Turismo |
Money Factor | |
Salary (as of 2018) | Rs 2.8 crore (IPL 11) |
Net Worth (approx.) | Rs 100 crore |
Some Lesser Known Facts About Gautam Gambhir
- Does Gautam Gambhir smoke?: No
- Does Gautam Gambhir drink alcohol?: No
- Gautam was born into an upper-middle-class family with a Punjabi background.
- He was just 18 days old when his maternal grandparents, Sat Pal Gulati and Asha Pal Gulati, adopted him from his parents, after which he spent his childhood in Karol Bagh, Delhi.
- He started playing cricket at the age of 10, and was part of his school’s team.
- In 2000, he enrolled himself at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru.
- Cricketer Rajat Bhatia is his school friend, who was also the cricket team captain at his school.
- He considers Bhagat Singh and Mother Teresa as his inspirations.
- If he wasn’t a cricketer, he would have been a soldier.
- The opening pair of Gambhir and his friend cum teammate Virender Sehwag is counted amongst the most successful batting pair as they had scored their runs at more than 4.5 runs per over.
- His favourite knock was against New Zealand in 2009 at Napier, where he scored 137 runs, in 643 minutes, in the 2nd innings, that helped India save the match.
- He was India’s top scorer in the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, with 227 runs, including the 75 runs knock in the finals against Pakistan.
- He played a pivotal role in the 2011 World Cup as he scored 97 runs against Sri Lanka in the World Cup finals.
- Under his captaincy, India had won 6 out of 6 matches.
- Kolkata Knight Riders won IPL Champions in 2012 and 2014 when Gautam was their skipper.
- He had a hair transplant in 2014.
- In 2017, he founded ‘The Gautam Gambhir Foundation’, which carries out many philanthropic activities, such as feeding poor people, carrying out the educational expenses of the children of martyred soldiers.
- Many people were shocked when Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) didn’t retain him in the 2018 IPL auction, after which Delhi Daredevils bought him. Later, it was revealed that before the auction, he requested the KKR management not to bid for him in the auction as he wanted to leave KKR for a different challenge.
- In the midway of IPL 11 in 2018, Shreyas Iyer replaced him as the skipper of ‘Delhi Daredevils’ after he stepped down due to his poor batting performance in the initial matches that led to series of loses for the team.
- He is a Teetotaller.
- He is superstitious as he keeps his pads on till the end of every match.
- On 22 March 2019, he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party with weeks to go for the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections. While joining the party, he said-
I am impressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision… I have contributed to the field of cricket and now hope to do more for the country.”
- On 2 September 2023, a video of Gautam Gambhir went viral in which he was spotted making a rude gesture to cricket fans during the 2023 Asia Cup match between India and Pakistan. In the video, the crowd was heard chanting “Kohli, Kohli” as Gambhir left the field; Gambhir and Virat Kohli share a history of disagreements and it’s been extensively reported by the media. Gambhir, however, later addressed the matter in an interview and claimed that the video didn’t accurately show what happened. According to him, the crowd was actually chanting anti-India slogans, and his reaction was in response to these slogans. Gautam Gambhir, in the interview, said,
If you raise anti-India slogans and speak about Kashmir, then the person before you will obviously react, and not smile and leave. There were two or three Pakistanis there who were making anti-India comments and comments on Kashmir. So, it was my natural reaction. I won’t hear anything against my country.”
Later, the real video of the incident emerged on the internet, revealing that the audio in Gambhir’s initial video had been taken from a separate video from 2016. [2]India Today
Here Is REAL Video #GautamGambhir pic.twitter.com/klgDE2rsMi
— Narendra Modi Fan (Modi Ka Parivar) (@narendramodi177) September 4, 2023
- On 22 November 2023, Gautam was named as the ‘mentor’ of the team Kolkata Knight Riders.
I’m back. I’m hungry. I’m No.23. Ami KKR ❤️❤️ @KKRiders pic.twitter.com/KDRneHmzN4
— Gautam Gambhir (Modi Ka Parivar) (@GautamGambhir) November 22, 2023
- According to actor Payal Ghosh, Gautam Gambhir initially used to express his interest in her; however, she was already in a relationship with cricketer Irfan Pathan at that period. While making such a claim through a post on X, which she posted on 1 December 2023, Payal mentioned that Gautam, moreover, used to give her missed calls, which Irfan was aware of.
- Gautam Gambhir got engaged in a heated argument with cricketer S. Sreesanth during a Legends League Cricket match on 7 December 2023. After a clip from the altercation went viral on the internet, Sreesanth addressed the incident on social media and expressed his disappointment with Gambhir’s on-field behaviour. Sreesanth claimed that Gambhir had called him a “fixer” and continuously abused him, while he maintained a sarcastic smile. Sreesanth, moreover, mentioned that when the umpire attempted to intervene, Gambhir directed abusive language towards him as well. Gautam, on the other hand, later posted a picture of himself on X with the caption ‘Smile when the world is all about attention!’ [3]NDTV
Emotions are always running high, when you were very passionate about your game.
Sreesanth and Gambhir in an animated chat during the @llct20 Eliminator!#LegendsLeagueCricket pic.twitter.com/Qjz8LqC41l
— Nikhil 🏏 (@CricCrazyNIKS) December 6, 2023
- On 2 March 2024, he took to X to announce his decision to quit the BJP and politics to focus on cricket.
I have requested Hon’ble Party President @JPNadda ji to relieve me of my political duties so that I can focus on my upcoming cricket commitments. I sincerely thank Hon’ble PM @narendramodi ji and Hon’ble HM @AmitShah ji for giving me the opportunity to serve the people. Jai Hind!
— Gautam Gambhir (Modi Ka Parivar) (@GautamGambhir) March 2, 2024
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