It's not game over for Gautam Gambhir

The axing of Gautam Gambhir prior to the highly anticipated and much important home series against the Aussies has come as a rude shock for many. For someone who was anointed the ‘second wall’ of Indian batting, many feel his omission was unceremonious and rather uncalled for.

The classy southpaw, who took forever to cement his place in the Indian cricket team, owing to the batting line up being packed by to-be legends, became one of the mainstays of Indian batting over the past few years. He, along with Virender Sehwag, forged together one of the most destructive opening partnerships in world cricket, considered at par with Hayden-Gilchrist and Sachin-Ganguly. He was also ranked the no.1 Test batsman in the ICC rankings, and was also named the Test player of the year for 2009. He also boasts of the record for scoring 5 centuries in as many Test matches, and of having scored most fifty plus runs in 11 consecutive matches, a record that he shares with Sir Viv. His career is also dotted with some memorable innings: his 93 against South Africa in 2011 with a swollen arm, his double century against the Aussies at Delhi, and the epic, match-saving 137 against New Zealand, batting for more than 5 sessions and facing around 430 deliveries.

Of late, however, he has looked out of sorts. Critics had begun sounding the death knell. His once famed technique now seemed too fragile. Lack of footwork, transferring his weight too early on the back foot, led to him continuously edging the ball – he has been dismissed caught behind or in the slips far too often. Others pronounce him guilty of grappling for the ball unnecessarily and playing away from the body. And the fact that he has not scored a Test century in the last 3 years did not really help his case; the lack of 100s also reflecting in his performance over the past three years: between February 2010 and November 2011, he managed only 704 runs at 29.66, one of the worst averages for openers around the world over the same period.

Still, the timing of the decision to drop him seems to baffle many. Over the past few months, though still devoid of centuries, he seemed to be getting back to his old ways: he managed 451 at 41.83 in the home series against the English; not too bad when compared with a few others in the team who managed to retain their spot.

Was he made the scapegoat for the home series loss against the English? Or was his rumoured rift with MS Dhoni the probable cause for his ouster? We’ll never know.

For a player of his calibre, it is a matter of only one or two innings; one good score and the confidence starts seeping in, the feet start moving better, the old flamboyance is resurrected. Maybe he can utilize this time to introspect, relegate himself to the domestic circuit for a season or two, and get himself going, as Harbhajan Singh is trying to do. Since one opening slot is now up for grabs, and very limited specialist opening options available for the selectors to pick and choose from, maybe he will be back in the fray sooner than expected. Maybe he will still manage to have the last laugh.