Reward for Kohli is demotion for Gambhir

During their final league match of the CB Series, Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli put on a vital 115-run partnership for the third wicket. They looked good together — stealing the quick singles, hitting the odd boundary and never once did they step out of line. They clearly knew what they were trying to do. They have also been India’s best batsmen — the two top highest run-getters in the ODI series. Kohli with 373 runs at 53.28 in eight matches has stolen the march over Gambhir, who has 308 runs in 7 matches. But if Gambhir had played another match, he might as well have been the highest scorer for India in the series. Then, how would the decision to promote Kohli as vice-captain ahead of Gambhir look? It would seem to be pretty odd and out of place. Kohli has no doubt been one of India’s finds of the tour — and there haven’t been too many. But is he good enough to take over as vice-captain? In fact, is he good enough to take over as captain in case Dhoni’s not available? It’s all good to groom a youngster for captaincy but not when there are better choices available. Gambhir is just 30 now, the same age as Dhoni. He is experienced. His form has been suspect in the recent past but now, he seems to be getting it together again and in his limited opportunities as captain, he’s shown himself to be a man who likes to attack and win matches. [caption id=“attachment_229588” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Gambhir is just 30 now, the same age as Dhoni. In his limited opportunities as captain, he’s shown himself to be a man who likes to attack and win matches. Reuters”] [/caption] Just before the T20 matches against Australia, Dhoni had calmly walked into a press conference and announced with great confidence: “It (captaincy) doesn’t belong to anyone. It’s a position I hold, and it’s an added responsibility. I always like to do well till I am in a job but it’s not something I want to stick to. If there is a better replacement, he can come in.” Realistically, the left-hander from Delhi was the only player in the team who had a chance of replacing Dhoni as skipper in the near future. By demoting Gambhir (Yes, that’s what they have done), they’ve basically told Dhoni that his captaincy at the Test or ODI level is not under question — this despite not a very stellar tactical display in the series Down Under or even during the series in England. Does Gambhir’s demotion have something to do with all that talk of the rift? The left-hander had started it all off by talking about how Dhoni perhaps might have left it a bit too late in the match against Australia. Is he paying the price for that? Sehwag has been ‘rested’, Gambhir has been demoted. Is that punishment ? Kohli as vice-captain at this point seems more like the BCCI trying to seize the moment and reward him before the excitement around his splendid 133 against Sri Lanka dies. A pertinent question: Would they have named him vice-captain if he had not scored that century? If not, then are they making him vice-captain on the basis of just one innings? Chief of the selection committee, Kris Srikkanth came out after the selection meeting and said: “We have started to look towards the future and named Kohli as the vice-captain. The board feels Kohli can be a future captain and it is important to groom him.” Can Kohli not be groomed for captaincy, without being made vice-captain? Can he not be included in the tactical meetings to give him an idea of how to plan for the opposition? Till now, Kohli, who also hails from Delhi, would often turn to Sehwag and Gambhir for advice. Will he still be doing that? The BCCI has looked to set the house in order and the only hope is that Gambhir and Kohli don’t become pawns in the bigger battle.