Gautam Gambhir slams MS Dhoni's captaincy decisions in 2012 CB series in Australia

MS Dhoni enjoyed a captaincy stint that many can only dream of. A stint that began with an unexpected triumphant campaign in the inaugural World T20 reached its zenith in the 2011 World Cup. Sandwiched between the two World Cup titles were several unprecedented achievements by an Indian captain. Tri-series win in Australia, Test series win in New Zealand, drawing a Test series in South Africa, guiding India to the number one in Tests for the first time were some of Dhoni’s several achievements.

Till date, he is the only skipper to have won all the three ICC tournaments – ICC World T20I, World Cup and the ICC Champions Trophy. But amidst all this, one incident that tainted Dhoni’s captaincy career to some extent was his decision to rotate the senior players during the 2012 CB series in Australia.

With an eye on improving the fielding standard of the team, Dhoni wanted to inject youngster in the team. Consequently, he decided to rest either of Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir from the playing eleven.

It was a decision that had surprised the whole cricketing world. Tendulkar, Sehwag and Gambhir had been a major factor behind Team India’s transformation into a world champion outfit. In fact, Tendulkar and Gambhir had played stellar roles during the 2008 CB series triumph but could not replicate their heroics in 2012 due to the policy. India failed to make it to the final of the tournament as the hosts went on to seal the series by beating Sri Lanka.

Gautam Gambhir shocked

Six years after that series, former India opener Gambhir has opened up about the rotation policy. The recently-retired batsman said that he was shocked after hearing Dhoni’s plans on the rotation policy.

“In the 2012 Tri-series in Australia, Dhoni declared that he can’t play all three 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,” he added.

He further recalled India’s famous game against Sri Lanka in Hobard which will be always remembered for Virat Kohli’s blazing ton. India needed to win the game at all cost to stay alive in the competition and Dhoni ditched his rotation policy for the do-or-die game.

“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 recalled.

The southpaw, meanwhile, recently retired from all forms of the game. The ongoing Ranji Trophy tie between Delhi and Andhra is his final competitive game.

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~ Written by Bijoy

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