Tirumala (Andhra Pradesh) [India], May 18 (ANI): The Indian cricket team's head coach, Gautam Gambhir, visited Tirumala with his family on Sunday to offer prayers at Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple.

On the cricketing front, Gambhir savoured success in March, after months of criticism, largely due to India's shambolic Test performance. India defied the odds stacked against them, rode high on stellar performances and stayed unbeaten to lift the Champions Trophy in Dubai.

India outclassed New Zealand in all facets of the game to stand triumphant with a four-wicket victory. This was India's second ICC title in a span of a year. Under former head coach Rahul Dravid, India scripted a memorable 7-run victory against South Africa in Barbados in the T20 World Cup 2024 final.

India's Champions Trophy story of success came after a turbulent period, which saw India crash out of the race for a spot in the World Test Championship final. It all began after New Zealand orchestrated a historic series whitewash in the subcontinent, which left India's road to the WTC final an intricate affair. After ending up on the wrong side of a 3-0 series defeat, India had to defy the odds in Australia with a series win.

Despite the historic win in the opening game in Perth, India's hopes of a series win faded with each passing game, and the five-match series ended with Australia reclaiming the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) after 10 years with a 3-1 series win. India will begin its World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-27 campaign with a five-match series against England in June.

Ahead of the critical England Test series, India received a double blow with the retirement of its batting stalwarts Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.

Virat stunned the cricketing world by announcing his retirement from the format, drawing curtains to a 14-year-long, 123-match big career. In his Test career, the 36-year-old made 123 appearances in white clothing, scoring 9,230 runs at an average of 46.85, with 30 centuries and 31 fifties in 210 innings and the best score of 254*. He is India's fourth-highest run-getter in the format, behind Sachin Tendulkar (15,921 runs), Rahul Dravid (13,265 runs), and Sunil Gavaskar (10,122 runs).

On May 7, Rohit announced his retirement from Test cricket after a career spanning 67 Tests and 11 years. He amassed 4,301 runs at an average of 40.57, with 12 centuries and 18 fifties. His highest score of 212 came during a memorable home series against South Africa in 2019. He finishes as India's 16th-highest run-getter in the longest format. (ANI)