Gautam Gambhir reveals that MS Dhoni kept him, Sachin and Sehwag from playing together in Australia

MS Dhoni has been a very polarizing figure in the Indian cricket scene. On one hand, he is revered for winning two World Cups, Champions Trophy, and taking the Indian team to the no.1 spot in Tests. While on the other hand, he is criticized for favouritism, some controversial decisions when it comes to player selection and treatment of seniors during his tenure as captain.

At the moment, a big question mark hangs on his career going forward given that India failed to reach the finals of the just concluded World Cup and his batting was highly criticized and he was not very good with the gloves behind the stumps as well, giving away the most byes in the tournament. One player who was forefront in his criticism was Gautam Gambhir, who admitted to having differences with Dhoni, due to his captaincy.

Dhoni kept me, Sehwag and Sachin from playing together

Recently, on a TV show, Gautam Gambhir shared an instance when MS Dhoni decided that Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Gambhir cannot play in the same team any more. The time was the ODI tri-series in 2012 in Australia and Dhoni as a captain didn’t want three senior players hampering the fielding standards on the big grounds down under.

“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 was quoted as saying by India Today.

Further, Gambhir mentioned that Dhoni had taken that decision in order to blood in youngsters in preparation for the 2015 World Cup. He also said that it is the job of selectors to decide on the future of Dhoni, who might also stay out of the West Indies tour. The 38-year-old has been under severe pressure due to lack of his performances on the field and waning hitting powers in the end overs.

Here is the video of Gambhir talking about Dhoni’s captaincy: