India went into the ODI series with three openers, Gambhir, Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar and Dhoni said he couldn’t play all three in the same playing XI. (Express Archive)Gautam Gambhir has criticised MS Dhoni’s decisions during the 2012 CB series in Australia. The tri-series was part of a forgettable tour of Australia for India. They were whitewashed in the four-match Test series that preceded it and failed to make the finals of the ODI tri-series that also involved Sri Lanka.
India went into the ODI series with three openers, Gambhir, Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar and Dhoni said he couldn’t play all three in the same playing XI. “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,” said in an interview with India Today.
The three batsmen eventually played together in Hobart against Sri Lanka. Although they won it by by seven wickets courtesy an imperious 86-ball 133 by 24-year-old Virat Kohli, it that turned out to be India’s last match of the series.
“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 batting 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,” he said.
‘Will never have personal differences with MSD’
However, he also said that he does not have personal differences with MS Dhoni. “I don’t think I will ever have any personal issues with him. Me and Dhoni have enjoyed some of the best moments of Indian cricket inside the dressing room. These are only rumours (rift with Dhoni). There are differences of opinion everywhere in families, teams as well. If everybody thinks alike then at some point or the other your growth will be hampered,” he said.
“There were differences of opinion with Dhoni, I used to play cricket differently and I had different ideas. But when your vision and objective is the same, to help India win, then I don’t think we had any major differences. I didn’t have any problems with Dhoni, there weren’t any from my side.”
Gambhir was an integral part of the teams that won the 2011 World Cup and 2007 World T20 under MS Dhoni. He scored 97 in the former, setting India up for their six-wicket win.
