Soon after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on July 9 announced the 16-member squad for India’s upcoming tour of Sri Lanka, social media site Twitter erupted in anger after they again ignored World Cup 2011 hero Gautam Gambhir. In the 16-member Indian squad, star batsman Rohit Sharma and pacer Mohammad Shami were re-called for the Sri Lanka tour scheduled to be held from July 26 to September 6. KL Rahul, who suffered an injury during the fourth Test against Australia earlier this year, also makes a comeback in the Test arena.
Gautam Gambhir was dropped from the team in 2013 due to his poor form in the Test cricket. He then made a comeback in August 2014 during India-England Oval Test. His poor form continued and he was forced to left out from the Indian squad.
After almost two years in 2016, Gautam Gambhir, who has so far scored 4154 runs in Test matches, made a comeback again due to his excellent show in the Duleep Trophy in which he scored 356 runs in five innings at an average of 71.20. On his comeback, he made 29 and 50 during the Test match against New Zealand.
Gautam Gambhir commands a humungous fan-following due to his commitment for the game.
Here is how his fans reacted on Twitter after he was ignored for three Tests against Sri Lanka:
@imVkohli @BCCI will have to regret on not talking @GautamGambhir by losing matches #bringbackgauti #gautiisbest @virendersehwag @KKRiders pic.twitter.com/vNE2WUoduD
— d!vy (@ChhatralaDivy) July 10, 2017
Gautam Gambhir performance v SRI LANKA!If ppl can take players last CT performance as a Base for selection in nxt CT why not GG performance? pic.twitter.com/dHqDy3Ytfx
— Gautam Gambhir Fans (@champggfans) July 10, 2017
@GautamGambhir We are with you always! Champ, you are a shining star for us and you will always be! Your GautiFam is always there _
— Gautam Gambhir Squad (@gautiaddicts) July 9, 2017
What has @mukundabhinav done to deserve a place in the squad but not @GautamGambhir ? Stop Politics in cricket @BCCI #INDvSL
— Harsh (@harshgupta__) July 9, 2017
@GautamGambhir NEVER GIVE UP!!
u r the real champion who keeps fighting with these challenges. So keep ur practice going on!Ignore Selection— BRING BACK GAUTI (@rimujha5) July 9, 2017
Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma and Mohammad Shami, who were dropped from the four match Test rubber against Australia in February, replaced middle-order batsman Karun Nair and all-rounder Jayant Yadav for the Sri Lanka tour.
The Virat Kohli-led side is set to play three Test matches, five One-Day Internationals (ODI) and a one-off Twenty20 International during the series. All the three Test matches will be played in Galle, Colombo and Kandy.Team India Squad:
Team India Squad:
Virat Kohli (captain), Murali Vijay, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Rohit Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Abhinav Mukund.
