“It was a shock to all three of us” - When Gautam Gambhir blasted MS Dhoni for dropping him & 2 legends from India’s ODI XI

Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir has always been one to speak his mind, as evidenced by his criticism of former skipper MS Dhoni from a tri-series in Australia in 2012. Having won the ODI World Cup the year before, the Men in Blue were in the middle of building their core for the following edition in 2015.

The first half of the series saw the trio of Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, and Virender Sehwag alternate with one another for the opening spots. It meant that one of the three had to sit out every other outing.

Yet, come the big games, Dhoni seemingly changed his mind, with all three playing the final three games.

Reacting to the muddled thinking by Dhoni, Gambhir said in an interview six years later (via India Today):

"First you decided that you won't play the three of us together, then you decided that you are going to play the three of us together. Either the original decision was wrong, or the second decision was wrong. He (Dhoni) took that decision as a captain and it was a shock to all three of us."

He added:

"At the start of the series, we didn't play together, it was a rotation thing. When it was a desperate moment, MS had to play three of us. If you take a decision, back your decision, stick to it. Don't back on something on which you have already decided."

Despite the veteran trio playing the final few games, India missed out on finishing in the top two and were eliminated from the final. Hosts Australia qualified for the best-of-three final along with Sri Lanka.

Gautam Gambhir played only a handful of ODIs post the 2012 Tri-series

The 2011 World Cup was Gautam Gambhir's shining moment in ODIs [Credit: Getty]

The 2012 tri-series in Australia was one of Gautam Gambhir's last in the ODI format. Despite playing a massive role in India's 2011 ODI World Cup triumph, including top-scoring for the side in the final, the southpaw played his final ODI at the start of the 2013 season.

The now-43-year-old played only 16 ODIs after the tri-series, with his final game coming against England in January 2013. It meant Gambhir finished his career playing in only one 50-over World Cup.

Overall, he played in 147 ODIs, scoring over 5,000 runs at an average of almost 40, including 11 centuries and 34 half-centuries.