Gautam Gambhir Offers Prayers At Balaji Temple; Congratulates Men In Blue For T20 World Cup Triumph

Former India opener Gautam Gambhir visited the Balaji temple in Tirupati and offered prayers. He also congratulated the Indian Cricket Team for winning the T20 World Cup 2024.

Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh): In the race to become the next head coach of the Indian Cricket Team, former India batter Gautam Gambhir on Sunday visited Tirupati and worshipped the deity.

Gambhir also congratulated the Indian cricket team led by Rohit Sharma who won the T20 World Cup 2024 by defeating South Africa by 7 runs in the summit clash at Barbados.

I want to congratulate Team India, I want to congratulate the entire nation that India has won the World Cup. It is for 140 crore Indians. The entire team has made the entire nation proud and the entire nation is very very happy," Gambhir told reporters.

He congratulated former head coach Rahul Dravid, skipper Rohit Sharma and the entire support staff for giving success to the nation.

On the retirement of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma from T20s, the southpaw quipped, "See what better than finishing their T20 career with a World Cup win, it would not have better than that, the script was written and they both are great players and they have done so much for Indian cricket, want to congratulate them and wish them all the best."

Gambhir recently appeared for the interview of the head coach of the men's senior team before the BCCI's Cricket Advisory Committee comprising former India players Ashok Malhotra, Jatin Paranjpe and Sulakshana Naik.

Gambhir in all likelihood will succeed Rahul Dravid, whose tenure ended following the completion of the T20 World Cup 2024, which was co-hosted by the USA and the West Indies.

Gambhir was a part of the T20 World Cup winning team in 2007 and also the 2011 ODI World Cup winning team, which was captained by charismatic Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

For the record, in the Indian Premier League 2024, Gambhir returned as the mentor of the Kolkata Knight Riders and the team won the title for the third time. Earlier the southpaw was also in the support staff of Lucknow Super Giants.

An aggressive opener during his playing days, Gambhir also served as a BJP MP in the 17th Lok Sabha.