Manchester: Change of fortunes surely doesn’t come up with the change of teams and that's the fate of Gautam Gambhir whose stint in county cricket has been as pathetic as it was during the Test series against England in India.
He hasn’t played much off the competitive cricket in recent times and his current form just reflects that. In the three opportunities that he has got so far, he has been able to register scores of 31, 21 and 2. Gambhir is seeking for a comeback in the Indian fold and to do that he surely needs to make every opportunity count as it’s just not about his form but of the players who have been doing well in the domestic circuit from the past couple of years, especially Ajinkya Rahane.
In the first class game that Gambhir played against Northamptonshire, he scored 31 runs which were quite good taking into account that it takes time to acclimatise to the conditions. But the next couple of games that he played, he simply failed with his willow.
Gambhir was the first batsman to get out after facing nine deliveries as he poked at an away-going delivery of seamer Kabir Ali which was snapped up by veteran South African Ashwell Prince in the slip cordon on Monday.
Playing in alien conditions and doing better than the other teammates should be the goal of Gambhir as that might give him an edge while the selectors go for the squad for South Africa tour. The tour will start later this year but looking at the current format and combinations that India has played with, a major change is something that cannot be expected.