India's Test Squad Snub -- End of the Road For Gautam Gambhir?

Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, Lokesh Rahul -- the list lengthens in front of Gautam Gambhir. With the announcement of the Indian Test squad against Sri Lanka on Thursday, the curtains might well have fallen on Gambhir's career. Almost.

During the mid-2000s, the opening pair of Virender Sehwag and Gambhir was one of the most prolific in the world -- a partnership that had the perfect mix of grit and aggression. If Sehwag took the screws to the opposition with his ultra-aggressive approach, Gambhir would shut down the wickets at the other end with dogged determination.

Then, the technical flaws crept in and bad form struck -- the dabs outside the off-stump found the keeper far too often and the angled bat kept chopping the ball on to the stumps.

Gambhir, once described by Sehwag as the best Indian opener since Sunil Gavaskar, fell out of favour with selectors and the management and spent 20 months in the cold. He received a call-up during India's last English foray but with a highest score of 18 in four innings, the tour ended on a sour note for the diminutive lefty from Delhi. (Amit Mishra was Always in our Scheme of Things: Sandeep Patil)

Since then, it has been an uphill struggle for the Kolkata Knight Riders' skipper. Although some flashy form in the Indian Premier League kept him in the reckoning, the rise of Murali Vijay as a Test specialist and the charisma of his fellow Delhi-man Shikhar Dhawan kept him at arm's length.

Dhawan's dip in form last season beckoned as an opportunity but the solidity of young Lokesh Rahul charmed the Indian team management more than the grittiness of the 33-year-old.

Rahul, after a dubious debut, got his act together and scripted a dream innings at Melbourne but a bout of dengue got the better off him before the one-off Test versus Bangladesh. Dhawan grabbed the chance and made the Bangladeshi bowlers squeal with a swashbuckling ton to prolong Gambhir's miseries. (Virat Kohli to Play for India A)

Gambhir, though, is far from done and he is leaving no stone unturned for a final bid.

Gautam Gambhir has scored over 4000 Test runs for India.

© BCCI

While India were crashing to a series defeat to Bangladesh in the ODIs, Gambhir packed his bags and flew to Perth to remodel his batting under the tutelage of former Australian cricketer Justin Langer.

"I've always followed JL's (Justin Langer) career closely. He built his game block by block, step by step", said Gambhir when quizzed about his choice of coach, "After the death of my coach Parthasarthy Sharma I was looking for someone who could understand my game. I wanted to give it a shot with JL."

Langer, who is known as a tough task master, not only made Gambhir toil with the willow but also made him go through sessions of gymnastics and mixed martial arts. Gambhir took it on and went through the grind because by his own admission, the KKR captain wanted to lift his game to 'invincible' levels.

Even after putting in the hard yards, Gambhir's selection for the Sri Lanka tour was a far cry. India, right now, have many options for the opening slot. Vijay is irreplaceable, Dhawan -- on the subcontinent -- is a Sehwag prototype and Rahul, with his tight technique can step up under most conditions. India even have the option of pushing Cheteshwar Pujara up the order. And then, don't forget Ajinkya Rahane or a Rohit Sharma.

Pushing 33, Gambhir's chances of a comeback are dim, in fact bleak but cricket is a funny game and the new selection committee doesn't look at age as a parameter for selection. For Sandeep Patil & Co., form and fitness are king, hence we see the comeback of two thirty-year-olds in Harbhajan Singh and Amit Mishra.

India's 2015-16 season is just kicking off and they have a lot of cricket ahead of them. The road is tough, the queue is long but an injury here and some off-form there, might just creak the door open for Gambhir, the man with 4000-plus Test runs.