Inside Story of BGT: Like in 2012, Gautam Gambhir’s moment never arrived | Cricket News

In a recent episode of BBC’s Desert Island Discs, British comedian Mark Street articulated his love for cricket. “People who don’t get sport think it is just about ball or about a race, but it isn’t. It’s the drama, it’s everything around it, I find it so immensely emotional.”Those following India’s tour to Australia would surely agree. Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir were the main characters of an immensely emotional drama and with two of them certainly not returning to Australia for another Test tour, a sequel can be ruled out, writes Sriram Veera
The last time Gautam Gambhir was in Australia for a Test tour, he had found himself pitched in dramatic scenes over a potential captaincy takeover. Interestingly, he finds himself in the middle of a succession drama again. The head coach, along with the selectors, are set to decide the future of two veteran stars. But a mini-rewind is in order.
It was the 2011-12 season and the Test tour had just got over. This was the time when the Fab Four of Indian batting — Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, and Virender Sehwag — had lost their aura. A limited-overs series followed where things got a bit out of control.It would start with captain MS Dhoni and Sehwag having a few interesting press conferences. Gambhir also made an intriguing comment after a last-over win that Dhoni had orchestrated. He said the game should have been sealed earlier, with a few overs to spare.
Later, Dhoni would mention that if Gambhir, Sehwag, and Tendulkar are played in the same XI, India would leak 20 extra runs. Sehwag hit back at the next press conference. It was after a game in which he had taken a sharp catch. When he was asked to react about Dhoni’s ‘extra 20 runs’ quote, he said, “Did you see that catch?”. He would urge the press pack to “ask the captain in the next press conference”. Captain Dhoni would admit how there was “awkwardness” in the dressing room for a while.
That series had turned rather conspiratorial in every sense with reporters, players and everyone else talking about the ‘rift’. India’s media manager then, a genial old man, called the journals covering the tour for a ‘chai and samosa party’. A player would then snide with laughter in private, “Heard you guys won’t be covering the rift anymore. Samosa mey bik gaye (sold out for a samosa)?!”A selector would tell this correspondent that “the team needs some proper direction and someone who is interested in Test cricket as captain”. He would go on to say, “Gambhir could be that guy”.
Even Mohinder Amarnath, a selector then, would land up towards the end of the tour. Some peace was bought, but the takeaway was that Dhoni, under whose captaincy India had lost 8 successive away Tests – four in England and four in Australia – was to be replaced Gambhir.Soon, days before India’s next series against Sri Lanka, Gambhir would publicly say he was ready for the captaincy: “I am ready for it … I have heard of the talks (of being made India captain).” But Board president N Srinivasan, in whose IPL team Dhoni was the captain, supposedly veto-ed the proposal of the selectors, and retained Dhoni as Test captain. Gambhir’s chances of captaincy were nipped in the bud and his form too deserted him as he was soon left out of the team.
In hot water
Now he found himself in hot water yet again in Australia. The most recurring visual of Gambhir came in several net sessions before and after Tests: Arms clasped in front of his chest, feet slightly wide, and seemingly frozen in that pose for hours.
Occasionally, he would chat with bowling coach Morne Morkel, or call over a young player and gesture some stuff, playing a few imaginary shots. Right behind all the players, at the back of the training area, chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar would stand, stretch, and now and then talk with performance analyst Hari. Gambhir would stand as an ‘umpire’, usually in the middle nets — there would normally be four nets across Australian venues, and just observe.
What he observed was obviously not quite what he might have hoped. His coaching record since he has taken over the India job hasn’t been that good with a series of losses, including a 0-3 horic whitewash against New Zealand at home. He has reportedly sought more centralisation of decision-making, and had attempted a couple of moves at the start of the tour.
The coach had wanted Cheteshwar Pujara, as reported this newspaper, but the selectors didn’t yield as they perhaps thought it would be going back. But that thought said much about what kind of batsmen he wanted, and what he missed in the team.
Later, Gambhir made his moves in the playing XI. He stuck to the find of the tour Nitish Kumar Reddy, someone he had backed over another all-rounder Shardul Thakur. Gambhir also preferred Harshit Rana over Akash Deep – a make for the pink-ball Test. He also opted for Washington Sundar over Ravindra Jadeja and Ashwin, and for a while it seemed he wanted to play Dhruv Jurel as a batsman at least, but couldn’t quite find a spot for him.
India had their moments, despite all the vulnerabilities in the camp, but kept finding ways to lose those moments. At Melbourne in the final session, or at Adelaide in the second innings when Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli fell cheaply, or in the Sydney second innings when the batsmen again failed to capitalise on a good start.
The most Gambhir moment of the series came in the drawn game at Brisbane when Akash Deep and Jasprit Bumrah saved the follow-on as the last pair. Gambhir would jump up from his chair, pump his f, high-five with Kohli. But just as it did in 2012, his moment under the Australian sun never quite arrived.

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