Five SURPRISING EXCLUSIONS from India’s Champions Trophy squad

1) GAUTAM GAMBHIR

This 35 year old man has seen it all. He has won India the finals World T20 2007 and the ICC World Cup 2011 on his own. Never given his due recognition, Gambhir has been a silent warrior. He has been there with the Indian team during all its highs and lows. His grit and determination never fails to amaze us. He has performed and given his 100% for any team that he has played for be it India, Delhi or KKR. He is probably the best captain in India at the moment. When he got his chance to make a comeback in the New Zealand Test series, he came back after injuring his shoulder and batted through the pain and scored a critical 50. If this is not the dedication and will power that the selectors want, it is be difficult to understand what will Gauti need to do to get back into the team.

He is of the same age as Yuvraj and Dhoni so age cannot be a factor here. He has played extremely well in the Ranji season scoring centuries which helped him make a comeback to the Indian Test team. In this IPL, Gambhir has been absolutely superb with the bat scoring scoring 425 runs in 12 matches at an average of 47.22 and a strike rate of 132.39 hitting 54 fours thereby showing his class. Compared to Gambhir, Shikhar Dhawan is pale and a very inconsistent player. This decision might not go down too well with the Indian fans who are tired of waiting for Kohli and Co. to give a chance to the KKR captain and are also sick of Dhawan scoring single-digit runs in most matches. It remains to be seen how Dhawan takes up the challenge but most of the people would probably be thinking, “ What more does Gautam Gambhir need to do?”

About the author

Aakash Verma