If a huge section of social media is to be believed, there has not been a bigger critique of former India captain MS Dhoni than his former teammate Gautam Gambhir. However, contrary to popular belief where Gambhir is accused of running some agenda or so against Dhoni, the former opener has also went all the way, at times, to appreciate the legendary wicket-keeper batter. His appearance on Star Sports Cricket Connected in May 2020 had put forward one such instance.
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Similarly, the BJP Member of Parliament is also accused of holding a similar sort of grudge against Virat Kohli. But, there have been occasions where Kohli has also been showered with words of praises from Gambhir’s end. For instance, during the recently concluded Asia Cup 2023, he had rated Kohli’s career-best ODI knock as the best ever by an Indian in the format.
As far as the Gambhir-Dhoni equation is concerned, Gambhir’s salty side of Gambhir for the two-time World Cup winning-captain often comes across because he neither minces his words nor remains tight-lipped to express his opinion on any issue, even if it has in it to snowball into a controversy.
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Gautam Gambhir Credited MS Dhoni For Backing Rohit Sharma Despite Him Averaging 2.6 In Sri Lanka
Gambhir, who had expressed mutual respect for Dhoni before the start of IPL 2022, had credited him for backing Rohit Sharma despite him averaging 2.6 (15 runs in five ODIs) during India’s tour of Sri Lanka 2012. Call it Dhoni’s vision while donning the captaincy hat or his sense of belief in Sharma’s caliber, the latter can certainly consider him lucky for having his skipper’s back in a team which was hardly short of quality batters.
As a matter of fact, the backing continued till the Mumbai batter cemented his place in the team across formats on the back of impressive performances. For the unversed, it was Dhoni who had decided to have Sharma open the batting in ODIs during ICC Champions Trophy 2013 – a move which continues to pay dividends to Indian cricket.
Citing the same, Gambhir had spoken highly of Dhoni for not giving up on Sharma in spite of him scoring 1,981 runs across 81 innings at an average of 30.43 before taking up the ODI opening role on a permanent basis.
“He [Rohit Sharma] had a miserable Sri Lankan tour where he had scored some 15 runs in five one-dayers. And actually when we landed in Delhi, I Whatsapped him saying that he’s gonna rule Indian cricket, because I always knew he had the talent and good on MS Dhoni for having backed him.
“Not a lot of players have been backed like Rohit Sharma has been backed by skippers. So, you’ve got to give a lot of credit to MS Dhoni as well for his evolution and actually promoting him to open the batting with me. The first time he opened the batting in ODI was with me in Mohali against England, where he made a comeback, MS made him open the batting, he made 60-odd runs and from there on he hasn’t looked back,” Gambhir had told Star Sports three years ago.
Following the tour of Sri Lanka, India next hosted Pakistan for a three-match ODI series after almost five months. Sharma played the first match against Pakistan but was dropped in the next two games to make way for all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja.
After missing the first three ODIs against England the very sane month, Sharma had opened the batting alongside Gambhir during the fourth match in Mohali where he had scored 83 (93). If truth be told, Sharma had opened the batting thrice during India’s tour of South Africa 2011 but it was on a temporary basis.
A few days ago during Asia Cup 2023 match between India and Sri Lanka in Colombo, Gambhir had reiterated and commended Dhoni yet again for the aforementioned reason, after the Indian captain had smashed a 38th ODI fifty while opening the innings.
Gautam Gambhir Had Condemned MS Dhoni Being Adulated For 2011 World Cup Win
Back on April 2, 2020, Gambhir was pretty unimpressed with a certain tweet by a popular publication which had commemorated the ninth anniversary of India’s famous World Cup win in 2011 by posting the picture of Dhoni hitting the iconic winning six.
Taking it as a move aimed at focusing and crediting just one individual for the World Cup title, Gambhir had come up with a harsh reply. The publication’s Editor-in-chief had later clarified his position and defended the reasonableness of the original tweet.
It was not the last time Gambhir had spoken on this very topic. Time and again he keeps taking his very stance while criticizing the fans and media for obsessing on an individual over the team in a team sport.
