Nothing beats playing again for the country, says Gautam Gambhir

The flamboyant southpaw has been recalled in the national squad for rest of New Zealand Test series after a gap of two years

Indian opener Gautam Gambhir, who had last played a cricket Test match for the national squad against England in 2014, has been recalled for the two remaining ties of the three-match India-New Zealand Test series.

Confirming the news, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) medical team said that the 34-year-old had been brought in as a replacement for K L Rahul, who was ruled out of the remaining two matches due to a hamstring injury.

Gambhir has notched up a total of 4,046 runs in 56 Tests, where he played for India at an average of 42.58. In the recently-held, Duleep trophy final match at Greater Noida Sports Complex, he guided his team India Blue to a historic title with a comprehensive 355-run win over India Red.

On his comeback, the flamboyant southpaw opener expressed his pleasure on microblogging site Twitter, he tweeted: "Excitement of a debutant, certainty of experienced, nervousness of a novice...am feeling it all. Eden here I come loaded with ambitions."

He further tweeted: "Nothing beats playing again for d country. Test cricket, whites, red ball and India cap again. Thanks @BCCI, thanks 2 all for d prayers."


Meanwhile, medium pacer Ishant Sharma has also been ruled out of the second Test after failing to recover fully from chikungunya that forced him to miss the country's 500th Test match.

With pacer Ishant Sharma, who missed the first Test at Kanpur due to chikungunya, yet to regain full fitness, Haryana off-spinner Jayant Yadav was named as his replacement for the second Test slated to begin at the Eden Gardens on September 30, BCCI Secretary Ajay Shirke said in a statement.

"BCCI medical team has confirmed that team India opener, K L Rahul has an injury in his right hamstring and he is ruled out for the remainder of the Test series against New Zealand.

"The All-India Senior Selection Committee has named Gautam Gambhir as Rahul's replacement for the next two Test matches," Shirke said.

The statement said that medium pacer Ishant was recovering and won't be available for the second Test.

"BCCI medical team will continue to monitor his progress. Off spinner Jayant Yadav will replace Ishant for the second Test," the statement added.

India, who are currently leading the series by 1-0, will play their next Test against New Zealand at Eden Gardens in Kolkata from September 30.
 

With inputs from Agencies