'Gautam Gambhir Is The Most Misunderstood Cricketer In India': Ravichandran Ashwin

India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin heaped praise on former captain and opener Gautam Gambhir, who he feels is the "most misunderstood cricketer" in the country.

Gautam Gambhir has been in the news for all the wrong reasons lately due to his blunt and honest criticism of a few of the Indian team players.

Gambhir's alleged fued with Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni is often highlighted by Indian cricket fans whenever he criticises the performance of the Men in Blue.

Ashwin rallies behind Gambhir

But Ashwin thinks people are too harsh on the BJP MP from Delhi and gets very little credit for his immense contributions to Indian cricket.

"Gautam Gambhir is the most misunderstood cricketer in India. He's the greatest team man.

"People give him much lesser credit than he deserves, he was a selfless individual always thinking about the team," Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.

The underrated star of Indian cricket

Gambhir was the highest run-scorer with the bat in both World Cup finals he won under MS Dhoni's captaincy.

He 75 runs in the 2007 World T20 final against Pakistan in Johannesburg and smashed 97 against Sri Lanka in the summit clash of the 2011 World Cup final in Mumbai.

India won both games to lift the World Cup titles but Gambhir wasn't adjudged Player of the Match in either finals.

Gambhir's 12-year international career for India includes 58 Tests, 147 ODIs and 37 T20Is in which he amassed 4154, 5238 and 932 runs, respectively.

He also won two Indian Premier League titles while leading the Kolkata Knight Riders.