Gautam Gambhir dropped from Indian team – not justified

Gautam Gambhir has been dropped from the Indian team for the all important Champions Trophy starting June 2013. He, along with Yuvraj Singh, are the two main casualties of the Indian team selection. But it was understandable with Yuvraj that he might not book his seat in the flight to London due to a string of inconsistent performances of late, and his current showing in the IPL has also not helped him book a seat. He is still on his comeback trail after his career threatening cancer problem. But, the more we think about Gambhir’s exclusion, the more it feels wrong.

The left-hander has been one of the most successful opener for India in recent times, partnering Virender Sehwag, irrespective of the format. But with Sehwag’s exclusion, the Indian opening slot looks very fragile with Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan replacing both these openers. But, these players lack quality, especially playing abroad. Playing in India and abroad is a different proposition from one another. His temperament in the UK will be missed by Indian fans.

What frustrates fans more than Gambhir’s exclusion is the inclusion of Murali Vijay into the team, as his recent performance has been far from impressive, so much so that he has even been dropped from the opening slot of the CSK in the IPL also. Both the selected openers have been selected on just one basis – Australia’s tour of India. A series success is no way to measure the capability of the player.

But one also wonders if his on-field behaviour in the ongoing IPL has been one of the reasons for his exclusion. He was involved in an ugly spat with Virat Kohli days back and it was only yesterday that some words seems were passed to Rahul Dravid, which has been downplayed by Gambhir on twitter stating he did not do any pass any such harsh words. Is this a lesson that the BCCI wants to teach to the Delhi lad? May be it is time for the left-hander to correct upon his attitude and then make a comeback into the Indian team.

This is not for the first time that the Delhi player was dropped from the team, as the same fate had struck in the last India-Australia series at home, after his inconsistent scores in his previous matches. But, to be fair to the selectors, the southpaw has also not scored a century in his last ten innings and with the Indian team preparing for the 2015 World Cup, they may be looking for young openers to play abroad as well. There can be no bigger platform than the Champions Trophy with the best players playing in the competition.