Gautam Gambhir - Short balls and broken bats

Gambhir v Flintoff in Mohali: "the nastiest spell I've faced"

First time I broke a bat
The first time I broke a bat was in neighbourhood galli [street] cricket. It was a brand new bat. I hit the first ball and immediately the handle just came off.

First time I was worked over by a fast bowler
It's happened only once so far. It was by Andrew Flintoff in Mohali last year, on the second day of the Test. It was the quickest and nastiest spell of short-ball bowling I ever faced.

First time I played the bowler, not the ball
Against Glenn McGrath in my debut Test. Perhaps I was in awe of him. I was picked up easily in the slips. It occurred once again, against Shaun Pollock a couple of years later during an ODI, but now I focus on the ball.

First left-hand batsman I was impressed with
Sourav Ganguly. I just liked everything about him, especially his off-side play. I wanted to be just like him.

First autographed bat
My first and only autographed bat was of Sachin Tendulkar. I took one of his MRF bats in Chennai in 2005, before the Test against Sri Lanka. I wanted it as a souvenir. He was generous enough to give me a note as well: "Score lots of runs".