Gautam Gambhir was known to be India’s saviour with the bat in big ICC tournaments during his career. As a person, the former cricketer from Delhi has always been fearless and never shied away from expressing his convictions. After Gambhir retired from cricket he is still managing to be in the limelight through his sensational comments.
The former cricketer is now often seen giving his expert opinions about the game which are always fascinating. Gambhir doesn’t hesitate from making controversial declarations as he believes in stating fact no matter whoever the player is concerned. In this feature, we look ahead at the top 5 most controversial statements made by Gautam Gambhir which had everyone talking about it.
Top 5 Controversial Statements Made By Gautam Gambhir
1. Heartbreaking not to see Ambati Rayudu in the World Cup squad
Indian team management stunned everyone when Ambati Rayudu was left out of the 2019 cricket world cup. Leading up to the event Rayudu was groomed as a no. 4 batsmen for the world cup. Yet, after he failed in an ODI series against Australia he was omitted from the ODI squad.
Gautam Gambhir was baffled after not seeing Ambati Rayudu in India’s CWC squad. The former cricketer didn’t hold back and criticised the team management for not picking Rayudu who had a batting average of 48.
“I think there should be no debate about Rishabh Pant’s exclusion but more about Ambati Rayudu. It is very, very unfortunate that someone averaging 48 in white-ball cricket and is only 33 has been left out. That for me is more heartbreaking than any other selection decision”, said Gambhir.
Interestingly a lot of fans made fun of Gambhir after this statement as just a few weeks back he had announced that Sanju Samson should be India’s no. 4 in the cricket world cup.
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2. Ashwin at 4 for India in the CWC
Sticking to the national debate of no. 4 batsmen for India in the CWC, Gambhir came up with another very profound statement. One year before the 2019 world cup, Gambhir left everyone speechless when he confidently asserted that Ravichandran Ashwin should bat at 4 for India in ODIs.
Ashwin was omitted from India’s white-ball squad after a disastrous performance in the 2017 champions trophy final. The off-spinner wasn’t even in the scheme of things of India for the world cup but Gambhir wanted India to experiment and bat him at 4.
“I think R Ashwin is someone who we should always consider because we are looking at conditions in England during that time of the year. Wickets could be flat and worn out. So a finger-spinner can be effective with the ball as well”, Gambhir had said.
Now, this quote of Gambhir became a meme material on social media as cricket enthusiasts failed to understand Gambhir’s logic.
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3. Kohli does well as a captain only because he has Rohit and Dhoni
No one has scrutinised Virat Kohli’s captaincy more than Gautam Gambhir. Whether Kohli captains in the IPL or India, Gambhir is just never satisfied with his captaincy tactics. Gambhir dropped a real bombshell when he claimed that Kohli only does well as a captain only because he has the luxury of MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma in the squad.
He supported his statements by pointing out that Kohli is without Rohit and Dhoni in the IPL and as a result, RCB has failed to win even a single championship.
“Virat Kohli is a good captain for India only because he has MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma behind him. If you are talking about Kohli the captain, he would have won RCB an IPL title since he has taken over the captaincy there. Most of the times his team RCB has finished on number 8”, Gambhir said.
Once this controversial quote was published by DNA, Gambhir was heavily criticised by Virat Kohli fans all over social media as the showed Kohli’s stunning test captaincy record where he plays with Dhoni and Rohit.
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4. Dhoni’s rotation policy was a massive shock
Gautam Gambhir has even at times slammed MS Dhoni’s captaincy who is widely regarded as one of the finest captains India has ever produced. Post his retirement he made it public when he stated that in 2012, Dhoni had made it clear that he can’t have Gambhir, Sehwag and Sachin in the same ODI team.
MS Dhoni was concerned about their fielding and didn’t want slow movers in the field with one eye on the 2015 cricket world cup. Gambhir was shocked with this rotation policy of Dhoni as he never got many chances after the 2012 CB series in Australia in ODI cricket.
“In the 2012 Tri-series in Australia, Dhoni declared that he can’t play all three (Gambhir, Sachin and Sehwag) of us together as he was looking ahead at the 2015 World Cup. It was a massive shock, I think it would have been a massive shock for any cricketer. I have not heard anyone be told in 2012 that they would never be a part of the 2015 World Cup. I always had the impression that if you keep scoring runs, age is just a number”, said Gambhir while talking about the incident as quoted by India Today.
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5. Kohli is lucky to continue as the RCB captain
Last but not least is this latest sensation statement of Gambhir when he openly declared that Virat Kohli is fortunate to be RCB’s captain. Once RCB bowed out of IPL 2020 in the playoffs, Gambhir was very harsh on captain Kohli as he once again failed to win an IPL trophy.
The former cricketer tagged Kohli as ‘Lucky’ after he has still been retained captain by RCB even after he has failed to win a single championship in 8 years as captain.
“He has been part of RCB and captaining RCB for the last seven to eight years and he has been very lucky and should rather thank the franchise that they stuck to him because not many captains have got such a long run where they haven’t won tournaments”, the 37-year old as quoted by Hindustan Times.
As expected this remarks of Gambhir didn’t go down well with the fans on social media as they again slammed Gambhir for his exaggerated statement concerning Kohli’s captaincy.
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