“Focusing on Just to Save His Place”: MS Dhoni Once Slammed Gautam Gambhir For Being a ‘Mute Spectator’

Legendary Indian captain MS Dhoni has refrained from hitting out at the players in public. Although, he once accused former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir of being selfish in order to save his place. Gambhir faced Dhoni’s wrath after India‘s defeat against England in Mumbai 11 years ago.

In 2012, England had toured India for a four-match Test series. Despite winning the first match, India ended up losing the series 1-2. The second match was played at the Wankhede Stadium where the home side registered a 10-wicket loss. In the second innings, the Indian team got bundled out for just 142. Every top batter of the side failed but Gambhir played a knock of 65 runs.

Gambhir was the top run-scorer but it was termed a selfish knock by Dhoni. The English bowlers were dominating the match and Gambhir was constantly allowing the tail-enders to take the strike despite the risk of them losing their wicket. This approach of the southpaw was not taken well by Dhoni.

Ahead of the Test series against England, Gambhir managed to score just 183 runs in last nine innings at an average of 20.33. He managed to score just a single half-century and 83 was his highest score. So, he scored just 100 runs in the rest eight innings.

MS Dhoni Once Slammed Gautam Gambhir For Being a ‘Mute Spectator’

After the end of the series, Dhoni highlighted Gambhir’s knock comparing it to off-spinner R Ashwin’s batting in the third Kolkata Test. Dhoni said that Gambhir should learn from Ashwin on how to build an innings in tough conditions. Dhoni highlighted that the whole world saw what Gambhir had done in the second match.

“Of late, [Gautam] Gambhir has gone into a shell and focusing on just to save his place in the team. His prolonged poor form has resulted in low self-esteem and he’s cut-off from other issues pertaining to the team,” Dhoni was quoted as saying by CricketNext.

“Every run was crucial but Gambhir chose to be a mute spectator. The whole world saw that and everyone was taken aback. The effort to contribute to the team wasn’t there.”

Gambhir has also been quite critical of Dhoni in the press. He has criticized the media for giving the majority of credit to Dhoni for the 2011 World Cup win multiple times. Furthermore, Gambhir has also found faults with Dhoni’s approach of taking matches deep and making it complicated instead of finishing them easily.

Gautam Gambhir’s Performance in England series

Gambhir was India’s third-best batter in the Test series. He scored 251 runs at an average of 41.83 with the help of a couple of half-centuries. Only Cheteshwar Pujara (438) and Virender Sehwag (253) had scored more runs than him among the Indian batters.