"Was A Massive Shock": Gautam Gambhir Slams MS Dhoni's Captaincy During 2012 CB Series

Gautam Gambhir, who recently announced his retirement from all forms of the game, has taken a pot shot at former India captain MS Dhoni's selection policy during the 2012 CB series in Australia. The left-hander, who is playing his farewell match in the Ranji Trophy with Delhi, revealed that Dhoni made the decision to not play him, Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag together in the XI, rather giving opportunities to youngsters before the 2015 World Cup. However, with the Indian team struggling for results, Dhoni went back on his decision and included the trio with Sehwag and Tendulkar opening, and Gambhir coming in at one down.

Dhoni's reversal didn't sit well with Gambhir. The left-hander said that "if you take a decision, back your decision. Don't back on something on which you have already decided".

Gambhir also said that it was a "massive shock" to him that the team for the 2015 World Cup was being selected in 2012.

"In the 2012 Tri-series in Australia, Dhoni declared that he can't play all three (Gambhir, Sachin and Sehwag) of us together as he was looking ahead at the 2015 World Cup.

"It was a massive shock, I think it would have been a massive shock for any cricketer. I have not heard anyone be told in 2012 that they would never be a part of the 2015 World Cup. I always had the impression that if you keep scoring runs, age is a just a number," Gambhir told India Today.

"If you have the skills to score the runs and you are not a liability on the field, you can go on to play as long as you want. This was always told to us and even in Australia we got to know that all the three can't play together, and we eventually got to play together.

"When we were in a desperate need to win a game, I remember in Hobart, Viru and Sachin opened and I batted at three with Virat batted at four. India won that game and we had to chase in 37 over.

"At the start of the series, we didn't play together, it was a rotation thing. When it was a desperate moment, MS had to play three of us. If you take a decision, back your decision, stick to it. Don't back on something on which you have already decided.

"First you decided that you won't play the three of us together, then you decided that you are going to play the three of us together. Either the original decision was wrong, or the second decision was wrong. He took that decision as a captain and it was a shock to all three of us," Gambhir added.

In the 2012 CB series, India won just three matches out of eight with one finishing in a tie. Dhoni's team failed to reach the best of three final, which was contested by Australia and Sri Lanka with the hosts winning the first and third final.

Virat Kohli was the highest run-getter in the series for India with Gambhir close on his heels. The left-hander scored a total of 308 runs in seven matches at an average of 44 while Kohli scored 373 runs in eight matches.

Sehwag, who played just five matches in the series, had a torrid time with the bat, managing a total of just 65 runs at a dismal average of 13. Tendulkar played seven matches and scored 143 runs at an average of 20.42.

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team Australia Cricket Team Sri Lanka Cricket Team Gautam Gambhir MS Dhoni Sachin Tendulkar Virender Sehwag Cricket