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[samlove01]

'I didn't ever want to come out of that zone'

How a man given to shouldering bowlers and mouthing off at them buckled down to play a knock of monk-like discipline

Interview by Sidharth Monga

March 28, 2010
Comments: 13 | New! Post yours as Sohail Khan | Text size: A | A

March 2009 in Napier is a time in life Gautam Gambhir happily transports himself back to. There is an unmistakable glee in his eyes when he talks about his match-saving 643-minute marathon, for just 137 runs. No man has batted longer in the second innings in 10 years. It is the fifth-longest effort in second innings in all Test cricket. By his own admission an impulsive man, Gambhir looks back at the three days of his most uncharacteristic innings.

VVS Laxman has a chat with Gautam Gambhir, New Zealand v India, 2nd Test, Napier, 5th day, March 30, 2009
Hold on VVS, I don't want to talk © AFP
Related Links
Players/Officials: Gautam Gambhir | VVS Laxman | Sachin Tendulkar
Matches: New Zealand v India at Napier
Teams: India

Do you think that was the best you played?
I think that's the best I have played because of my concentration, because I had to play out of my skin. Being an impatient guy, even off the field, I would always look to score runs and score them quickly. Sometimes I panic if runs are not coming. So I had to play out of my skin, out of my comfort zone. It was a big achievement for me.

Do you remember exactly how many minutes and balls?
Ten hours and some minutes. Balls I don't remember.

You have played long innings before. You have scored double-centuries. But you score double-centuries in, say, eight hours, sometimes less, here you played 11 hours for just 137. Did you think you could play that kind of innings?
I had it in me. It used to hurt me that people thought I didn't have the technique and the temperament to play Test cricket. Scoring three double-hundreds in first-class cricket, obviously I had something in me.

What was the feeling when you went in to bat the second time, after making 16 in the first innings?
It was very difficult, batting two-and-a-half days to save the Test. I always thought it was a matter of taking it one hour at a time. Taking it one drinks break at a time, and then playing till the next break. If I had thought that I had to bat two-and-a-half days, I would never have been able to do it.

What was the longest innings you had played till then?
Must have batted for one-and-a-half days, that's about it.

Going back: day three, stumps, Viru was out already. What were you thinking in the evening? What did you do that evening?
I remember, I called up a very close friend and told him I had a very strong gut feeling that I was going to bat for two days. It was very instinctive. I was batting on 20-something. I got to the room and just called him up. He said, "It's not going to be easy." I said, "I know, but somehow I am getting the feeling that I will be able to save this Test match." Then it just happened.

The score moved slowly. In a normal innings you have milestones - say, 25 runs, 50 runs - where you switch off and come back on. What was it here? Runs couldn't have been, because you were scoring 12 runs an hour.
If I had said I had to bat through two-and-a-half days, it wouldn't be possible. As I said, I broke it down to drinks breaks and then session breaks. At one point I was taking it five overs at a time. Five overs, then five overs, then drinks would come. So I had to break it up into very, very small goals. That's how it worked.

During the long partnerships with Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar, did you talk much?
There was a time when I was batting with Sachin when I scored one run in about an hour. I got stuck for one-and-a-half hours. I wasn't even in the zone of scoring runs. I wasn't looking to score runs. I don't know why. So I told Sachin, "First of all, I have got stuck. For one hour I haven't scored a run. On top of that, I am not even looking to score runs. It's a completely new place for me to be in." He said, "Sometimes what you are doing for the team is much more important than your personal goals. I think this innings will take you to another level. Don't think about your individual score, just think about the team. Maybe this innings will be the best you have played for India, and this could be the best anybody can play." That helped me concentrate harder and keep myself in the zone. Otherwise I was on the verge of losing concentration and trying to break the shackles.

When you were playing like that, do you realise that you have not scored many runs and if I you were to get out in three hours you would have scored only 40, and the team would not be in a much better position?
But we were looking to save the Test, not win it. If we were looking to win it would have been a crime.



"I remember I called up a very close friend and told him I had a very strong gut feeling that I was going to bat for two days. It was very instinctive. I was batting on 20-something then"



But still, if you are scoring faster you know you have at least erased the deficit. This way, you are taking a big risk, so to speak
We were so much behind that it was immaterial. And time was equally important. Reducing the deficit was important, but I decided time was more important.

Before lunch on the fourth day, you stepped out and hit Daniel Vettori over the infield twice in one over. Was that a release of tension? Because they had bowled a couple good overs leading up to that.
I got to 50 by stepping out and hitting Vettori. I also remember I stepped out and hit him over midwicket when I was on 98. I was getting nervous, and that milestone was distracting me from the main goal. So I wanted to get it out of the way as soon as possible.

When you start out on such an innings, you say, "Okay, let's see. Then you have played five or six hours and you think, "Wow, it's possible." Does that mean more pressure?
Exactly. I thought, "Okay, let's see." After four or five hours, you think, "Look I am set, I can do it, I have done half of it." You get more nervous because it's a possibility, but with me, it made me more determined.

They must have tried to lure you. Attacking fields. Flighted deliveries.
There were times with five fielders around me. There was a lot of temptation, but I was playing completely out of my skin.

Did they try to sledge you?
No they didn't. New Zealand is one team who never sledge.

Did you feel physically tired? Did that affect you at any time?
After I got out, I was physically exhausted. When I was playing, I didn't feel a thing. I was so much into it.

Anxiety in the 90s?
Oh, in the 90s I am usually very anxious. I just wanted to cross that milestone. And also stumps was approaching. I needed to just get it out of the way.

What did Sachin tell you after you reached your hundred?
The best moment was when he hugged me. It is the best moment of my career.

How did you spend the fourth evening?
I was so exhausted after the end of the day's play, I went back, ate and slept. The only thing was the next day.

Gautam Gambhir celebrates his century, New Zealand v India, 2nd Test, Napier, 4th day, March 29, 2009
"If someone asks me if I can do that again in my life, it's an absolute no" © Getty Images

Could you get sleep?
What happens is, when you are very tired you don't sleep well. I managed to sleep, but I got up very early. The only thought was how I had to bat the whole day.

Did you follow any routines?
I was listening to one song, and just kept listening to it on loop.

Throwdowns, nets?
I don't do throwdowns. Just hit a couple of balls. If I am middling them, it's fine.

Fifth morning. Did something inside you say, "Okay it's easy to hit a quick 50, we are almost there"?
Never. The only thought was that I had to bat as long as I could.

What was your favourite phase of the innings?
I remember I was in that zone. I was batting with Laxman and I didn't utter a word. I never wanted to come out of that zone. I was so much into that concentration. It was so high when Sachin got out on the fifth day and when Laxman batted with me, for one and a half hours I didn't say anything. He said, "Why aren't you speaking?" I said, "I am in that zone, I am fully concentrating on the ball. I don't want to come out."

Was that the best you have felt on a cricket field?
Absolutely. There was only one thing in my mind and that was the ball.

Viru called you the best opener since Gavaskar.
Had anyone else said that I wouldn't have taken it seriously. But coming from him... he must have seen something. It matters. It made me happy.

What was the first thing you did after getting out?
I didn't take off my pads for 45 minutes. I don't know, I was so much into it I just couldn't take off my pads. And after I took the pads off, I was absolutely gone.

How did you celebrate that day?
I was very happy. Laxman came up to me and told me it was the best Test innings he had ever seen. Coming from these greats it makes you very happy.

How do you look back at those three days?
If someone asks me whether I can do that again in my life, it's an absolute no. It just happens. That zone just happens. Anybody would say no.

Sidharth Monga is a staff writer at Cricinfo
RSS Feeds: Sidharth Monga





Think Abt It.....With This Innings He Cement his place in INdian Team and now he is the best opener in the world...

Just playing cricket for the country is the achivement.. Playing 2 save the country matters a lot.. He Did IT... Cant We...

Temperment,paitience and concentration is the main thing for a player..he work a lot on his batting.. he wont throw his wicket if runs wont come 2 him..


think abt it guys.. We hav lot of expections from u..

[cricman]

Originally Posted by Orpheus
what about the hotel cost buddy? it's gonna run you 150 bucks a night atleast. that's 1500 dollars for the length of your stay. I would have rather gone to BD for a series and stay free with family. would have more fun.

also how many games are you gonna get to see BD games... you might have to travel between islands... more expense. If you got the money.... more fun for you but just a nice warning to the dreamers that's thinking of 350 dollars vacation

I'll Share a bed with Ash

[Orpheus]

Originally Posted by cricman
I'll Share a bed with Ash

Looks like you thought this through. For some reason, I had a feeling from your post you didn't really plan it out. Good job! and hope you get to see some wins in an empty stadium.

[FagunerAgun]

I believe BD team will give Pakisatni team some surprises.

[Tiger444]

Really liked your analysis cricman but we do really need mahmudullah..remember he did very well in the warm ups leading 2 the world cup..he mixes caution with aggression which is good 4 T20 batting..everyone doesnt need 2 score a 20 ball 50..a SR of a 100 in T20 in my opinion is still very good..of course you need some other players with an extremely high SR but we do need a player that scores a 50 ball 50 which mahmudullah is capable of..

In regards 2 mushy..i just dont really see anybody with better wicketkeeping skills..i heard dhiman a couple of times here before but when i watched him he wasnt that great..mushy again is a player who can score a 50 ball 50 but he needs 2 be up at the top and not at #6..he does need time at the crease before he lets loose..so playing him at #4 would be a good idea..

Finally people saying why zunaed is in there..watch that india T20 highlight and then you will see how good he did that match..the guy killed the indian bowlers..he is also a big striker of the ball and should get the nod above imrul..

[al-Sagar]

Originally Posted by Tiger444
Really liked your analysis cricman but we do really need mahmudullah..remember he did very well in the warm ups leading 2 the world cup..he mixes caution with aggression which is good 4 T20 batting..everyone doesnt need 2 score a 20 ball 50..a SR of a 100 in T20 in my opinion is still very good..of course you need some other players with an extremely high SR but we do need a player that scores a 50 ball 50 which mahmudullah is capable of..

In regards 2 mushy..i just dont really see anybody with better wicketkeeping skills..i heard dhiman a couple of times here before but when i watched him he wasnt that great..mushy again is a player who can score a 50 ball 50 but he needs 2 be up at the top and not at #6..he does need time at the crease before he lets loose..so playing him at #4 would be a good idea..

Finally people saying why zunaed is in there..watch that india T20 highlight and then you will see how good he did that match..the guy killed the indian bowlers..he is also a big striker of the ball and should get the nod above imrul..

cant agree anymore.

its sorry to say that we dont have a better WK than mushy. may be dhiman just has an edge over him but still he is also prone to mistakes.

zunaed came into BD as a t20 batsman. after he scored that 100 in a abahani-mohammedan match in which tamim also scored a hundred. he also got his debut against pak in a t20 match ind did well.

well things has changed. zunaed somwhow transformed into a test batsman. but i still think he should be tamim's opening partner in all forms of cricket

[Tiger444]

Originally Posted by offstump
cant agree anymore.

its sorry to say that we dont have a better WK than mushy. may be dhiman just has an edge over him but still he is also prone to mistakes.

zunaed came into BD as a t20 batsman. after he scored that 100 in a abahani-mohammedan match in which tamim also scored a hundred. he also got his debut against pak in a t20 match ind did well.

well things has changed. zunaed somwhow transformed into a test batsman. but i still think he should be tamim's opening partner in all forms of cricket

zunaed is actually a good T20 batsman still..ODIs is where he really struggles..i think this is where his middle gears come in2 question..he has that 1st and 4th gears but not exactly the 2nd and 3rd gears..and thats where he has his flaws..because when he goes with that 4th gear he can score that quick 30 and 40 which is good in T20 but not good enough in ODIs..in tests he really uses his 1st gear well and can slow down really well..if he could just use the combo of the 1st and 4th gears then he could be a fine ODI batsman..

[auntu]

Originally Posted by FagunerAgun
I believe BD team will give Pakisatni team some surprises.

Me too.
There is a big possibility about that.
Unsettle PAK side is a great chance for us.

[Equinox]

The fundamental mistake we made in the last tournament was the line-up. We sent out our best hitters in the Top 4: Tamim, Zunaed, Ashraful, Shakib who went all out in the PP overs which left Rokib, Mushfiq, Riyad and Naeem to play tuk-tuk for the remaining overs. Naeem and Riyad were not hitters back then and Mushfiq wasn't as good a rotator of strike. I still remember a stat which said Bangladesh were among the Top 3 when it came to PP scoring so it is obvious we lose the matches after the PP finishes. So it is imperative that we get the line-up right this time. I'd send Mushfiq in at 4 to play the role of the anchor and rotate the strike as he takes some time to get settled and go for his shots and Riyad at 5 for the same reason. Which leaves Alok (if selected), Shakib and Naeem at 6,7 and 8 to go for a final onslaught.

[AK420]

I think Cricman Bhai has done excellent team selection. This shows how BCites are better selectors than so called good selectors like AKRAM KHAN

[Tormuz]

We will beat Pak but against Aus, we should look for a shommanjonk porajoy. they have bowlers who can bowl 150+ and T20 specialist like Tait, Nannes, Jhonson, Lee. Our batsman are not capable of handling this kind of pace.

[Tiger444]

Originally Posted by Equinox
The fundamental mistake we made in the last tournament was the line-up. We sent out our best hitters in the Top 4: Tamim, Zunaed, Ashraful, Shakib who went all out in the PP overs which left Rokib, Mushfiq, Riyad and Naeem to play tuk-tuk for the remaining overs. Naeem and Riyad were not hitters back then and Mushfiq wasn't as good a rotator of strike. I still remember a stat which said Bangladesh were among the Top 3 when it came to PP scoring so it is obvious we lose the matches after the PP finishes. So it is imperative that we get the line-up right this time. I'd send Mushfiq in at 4 to play the role of the anchor and rotate the strike as he takes some time to get settled and go for his shots and Riyad at 5 for the same reason. Which leaves Alok (if selected), Shakib and Naeem at 6,7 and 8 to go for a final onslaught.

totally agree with that..last time we didnt have a good balance with hitters and tuk tuk players..we need 2 put mushfiq up the order like you said at 4..keep tamim and zunaed at openers and then have ash come in at 3..mahmudullah at 5, shak at 6, and naeem at 7..i think that would be perfect..not very fond of having aftab or alok back even though they did good in icl..icl is still not international bowling and its better 2 have them on the bench..

[AK420]

Our players are not T20 material

[kalpurush]

Originally Posted by Tormuz
We will beat Pak but against Aus, we should look for a shommanjonk porajoy. they have bowlers who can bowl 150+ and T20 specialist like Tait, Nannes, Jhonson, Lee. Our batsman are not capable of handling this kind of pace.

Beating the Pakis might not be as easy as we are thinking!?

Also, pace/speed is not a big problen for our batters but bounce. It might be the Aussies who could be beaten by the Tigers' SLA batteries!

[Tiger444]

Originally Posted by kalpurush
Beating the Pakis might not be as easy as we are thinking!?

Also, pace/speed is not a big problen for our batters but bounce. It might be the Aussies who could be beaten by the Tigers' SLA batteries!

Beating Pakistan will be very hard..but i think it will be harder 2 beat australia then pakistan..no doubt pakistan has great talent but they are very inconsistent and can lose 2 any1 on a given day..so even though pakistan will still be big favorites over us, i see us having a slight chance of an upset..australia though is a good consistent team who always come 2 play no matter what team..their bowlers and batsmen are much better then us and i expect a comfortable win 4 the aussies..i think if we want us 2 go through 2 the next round, we are going 2 have 2 hope we can beat pakistan because honestly i see a slight realistic chance beating pakistan but not australia..

[kalpurush]

Originally Posted by Tiger444
Beating Pakistan will be very hard..but i think it will be harder 2 beat australia then pakistan..no doubt pakistan has great talent but they are very inconsistent and can lose 2 any1 on a given day..so even though pakistan will still be big favorites over us, i see us having a slight chance of an upset..australia though is a good consistent team who always come 2 play no matter what team..their bowlers and batsmen are much better then us and i expect a comfortable win 4 the aussies..i think if we want us 2 go through 2 the next round, we are going 2 have 2 hope we can beat pakistan because honestly i see a slight realistic chance beating pakistan but not australia..

T20 is ...

[auntu]

Originally Posted by kalpurush
Beating the Pakis might not be as easy as we are thinking!?

Also, pace/speed is not a big problen for our batters but bounce. It might be the Aussies who could be beaten by the Tigers' SLA batteries!

Absolutely right Obaed bhai. It' won't be easy at all. PAK has some great T20 performer. If they go strong against us it's gonna be very tough for the tigers.

[Roni_uk]

Any guess what David Warner will score against us? After watching KKR v Del and few PCL matches, I guess is as many as our team total.

[Tigers_eye]

Originally Posted by Roni_uk
Any guess what David Warner will score against us? After watching KKR v Del and few PCL matches, I guess is as many as our team total.

All we have to do is win against Pakistan.

[al-Sagar]

warner will open with marsh..... then white, voges, clarke, hussey, poting etc..........

anyway if WI produce a pitch where the zimbabwe spinners had lot of purchase and we take the correct spinners (dont count naeem and riadh as spinners) we can give aussies a fight i think

well not sure whether bridgetown barbados will preset us such a pitch

[unda_bhai]

i thot ponting dosnt play t20 for aust? ^^

[Roni_uk]

Originally Posted by unda_bhai
i thot ponting dosnt play t20 for aust? ^^

ya i thought so too. He retired from T20. He hates it - lol. Don't blame on him. "Angur fol tok" :P

[zainab]

Recently, I watched a bit of last years WC20/20, and BD WAS playing THE Aussies in a warm up match. IMO, they performed very well, chasing 219 runs and made 182 runs for 6 wickets against Mitchell Johnson, Brett lee and Nathan Bracken. the same bowlers are in this years squad, but they have a killer combination of batsmen.

[dolcevita]

I think we will win against paki

Posted via BC Mobile Edition (iPhone)

[Tiger444]

Originally Posted by dolcevita
I think we will win against paki

Posted via BC Mobile Edition (iPhone)

hopefully..i would love 2 beat pakistan in the 1st game..i feel its gonna be very hard but still remember this..pakistan usually plays very poorly at 1st and then gets stronger as the tourney goes..so i think we can catch them off guard..we need tamim 2 really fire and ash..then we also need a role player like mahmudullah and naeem 2 come in with a surprise knock..i think thats the way we can beat pakistan..