When Gautam Gambhir scored gritty fifty after retiring hurt in 2016 IND vs NZ Test

Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir had once faced a situation similar to Rishabh Pant’s current injury woes during the fourth Test against England in Manchester. The incident dates back to 2016, when Gambhir made a comeback to India’s Test team after more than two years, during the final match of the home series against New Zealand in Indore. With India having already clinched the series 2-0, Gambhir returned to the XI and scored 29 in the first innings before injuring his shoulder while fielding on Day 3.

Despite the injury, Gambhir came out to open in India’s second innings. He looked to be relatively untroubled early on, but aggravated the same shoulder injury when diving to cut off a second run, forcing him to retire hurt with the score at 11/0. However, Gambhir not only showed incredible persistence by coming back to bat the next morning after the fall of the first wicket, but amazingly, he then scored a fluent 50 off only 56 balls to provide India with a sound foundation to build upon. 

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India would eventually declare their second innings at 216/3, setting New Zealand an unlikely target of 475. There was not much fight from New Zealand in their attempt to chase down the total, succumbing for only 153 and losing by an emphatic 321 runs, and settling the series 3-0 to India. Gambhir's comeback, albeit injury-truncated, will be long remembered as a tale of determination and redemption. His ability to recover from injury to be able to contribute so well has been a highlight in his late career revival in Tests.

Gambhir played a key role in the 2007 and 2011 World Cup wins

Gautam Gambhir’s international career came to a quiet end soon after his short-lived comeback in 2016. Following his return in the Indore Test against New Zealand, Gambhir was picked for the opening match of the England series in Rajkot. However, he could only manage 29 runs across two innings and was subsequently dropped for the rest of the series. That match marked his final appearance for India, capping off a 13-year-long career that had its share of highs, including crucial contributions in some of India’s most iconic cricketing moments.

Throughout his career, Gambhir played 242 international matches and amassed over 10,000 runs, including 20 centuries. At the peak of his form, particularly towards the end of the 2000s, he was ranked as the No. 1 Test batter in the world. Beyond the numbers, Gambhir played a pivotal role in India's title-winning campaigns, especially in the 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2011 ODI World Cup, where his impactful knocks were instrumental in India’s victories.