Gautam Gambir

An Indian opening batsman. He is the fourth Indian to score double century in tour game at home , the previous three were Sunil Gavaskar, Dilip Vangsarkar and Sachine Tendulkar. He is the only Indian Batsman to score more than 300 in four consecutive Test series. Gambhir, who won the ICC Test Player of Year award at the LG ICC Awards in Johannesburg in October, scored 167 and featured in a 233-run first wicket stand with Virender Sehwag who himself has climbed four places to return to the top 20 in 19th place. Gambhir was picked up by the Delhi Daredevils franchise in the first player auction of the Indian Premier League for a price of US$725,000 a year.
Gambhir's second coming at the international level has been a brilliant blessing for India. In his earlier avatar Gambhir was classified as a batsman who made the cut in the limited-overs format due to his ability to improvise, but one who lacked the technique to succeed in Test cricket. The year 2008 changed all that. Gambhir transformed his limited-overs success into cricket's traditional form, with Test runs in difficult circumstances against tough opponents both home and away.
Some of those runs were scored with India in a strong position and pressing for a win, while others came in backs-to-the-walls situations that required him to bat long periods. He managed both superbly. On India's successful tour of New Zealand in 2009 Gambhir removed some question marks over his temperament and batting outside the subcontinent. He scored a series-topping 445 runs on the tour and his contributions were massive - Gambhir set up a win in Hamilton, saved a match that looked lost in Napier, and batted New Zealand out in Wellington - the three main jobs an opener is expected to do. His feats since 2008 helped him bag the Arjuna Award.

Cricket Grounds | Indian Pitches | Cricket Stadiums

At present Indian cricket is in modern era of the game. In the modern era of the cricket speed of the game has been increased. The modern era is dominated by batsmen in every version of the game and mostly the slow blowers get good treatment from the batsmen. But when it comes to Sub-continental pitches the slow blower gets a change to perform. The Indian pitches are mostly turning and batting pitches. Mostly fifty over games are played in batting tracks. And test matches are mostly played in turning pitches because no team will desire to run five days continuously towards boundary line. That is why India doesn’t produce top class fast bowlers like Glen McGrath. If we look at the matches played in India we could see spin bowlers take more wickets and turn the match for India. And that is why India has and had top class spinners like Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh and the list goes on in future too. But when these classy bowlers play in foreign pitches it’s too hard work for them. The foreign pitches other than sub-continental pitches support fast bowlers well. Thus Australian and South African sides have produced classy fast bowlers. The bouncy track supports bowlers so there is a health competition in their domestic level. The players played in Champion Trophy T20 are very good example for their domestic standard. But Indian batting pitches have produced top class batsmen and there are even classy batsmen waiting for their opportunities. The Indian pitches that are used for domestic matches and international matches are tabled below.

Name of the Ground	Place	Ends
Gymkhana Ground	Mumbai, Maharashtra	Unknown
Eden Gardens	Kolkata, West Bengal	High Court End, Pavilion End
M. A. Chidambaram Stadium	Chennai, Tamil Nadu	Anna Pavilion End, Wallajah Road End
Feroz Shah Kotla	Delhi	Stadium End, Pavilion End
Brabourne Stadium	Mumbai, Maharashtra	Pavilion End, Churchgate End
Green Park Stadium	Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh	Mill Pavilion End, Hostel End
University Ground	Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh	Unknown
Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium	Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh	Pavilion End, Hill Fort End
Nehru Stadium	Tamil Nadu, India	Unknown
Vidharba Cricket Association Ground (VCA Ground)	Nagpur, Maharashtra	Jaika End, Church End
M. Chinnaswamy Stadium	Bangalore, Karnataka	Pavilion End, BEML End
Wankhede Stadium	Mumbai, Maharashtra	Garware Pavilion End, Tata End
Gandhi Stadium	Jalandhar, Punjab	Stadium End, Pavilion End
Sardar Patel Stadium	Ahmedabad, Gujarat	Adani Pavilion End, GMDC End
Barabati Stadium	Cuttack, Orissa	Mahanadi River End, Pavilion End
Sawai Mansingh Stadium	Jaipur, Rajasthan	Pavilion End, City End
Sector 16 Stadium	Chandigarh	Unknown
K.D. Singh Babu Stadium	Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh	Pavilion End, Gomati End
Punjab Cricket Association Stadium	Mohali, Punjab	Pavilion End, City End
Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium	Nagpur, Maharashtra	North End, Pavilion End