The incipient animosity between Gautam Gambhir and Mahendra Singh Dhoni has become all too well known over the last few years. At regular intervals, Gambhir has made statements that have clearly shown that he isn't the biggest fan of his former captain. The former opener seems especially annoyed that his contribution in the 2011 World Cup final is completely overshadowed in the media by Dhoni's knock in the same match.
The latest edition in this running story transpired on the ninth anniversary of Indian team's memorable World Cup triumph. A cricket website shared a tweet with a picture of Dhoni's match-concluding six and captioned it as "#OnThisDay in 2011, the shot that sent millions of Indians into jubilation."
There seemed hardly anything controversial or even remarkable about this tweet. However, Gambhir, now a Member of Parliament from Delhi wasn't impressed. He put out a response to this tweet and wrote: "Just a reminder @ESPNcricinfo: #worldcup2011 was won by entire India, entire Indian team & all support staff. High time you hit your obsession for a SIX."
As expected, this led to a torrent of response on social media by Indian fans. The opinions were divided though. Some supported Gambhir and his view that the contribution of the entire team, especially that of the Delhi boy, should also be given its due while some thought he was making a big issue out of nothing.
One must remember that this isn't the first time that Gambhir has talked about his contribution in that match being completely overlooked. In an interview to a news website last year, he had expressed his dissatisfaction that despite being the top scorer with 97, the entire credit for the win has often been given to Dhoni for his unbeaten knock of 91.
One must remember that India were in a lot of trouble after losing the wickets of their openers Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar early on in their chase of 275. At that stage, it was Gambhir and Virat Kohli who steadied the ship and put the team back on track. Gambhir played superbly and denied the Sri Lankan bowlers the opportunity to make further breakthroughs.
By the time, Gambhir was dismissed, going for an aggressive shot by charging down the wicket, India needed 52 runs to win but were looking set to reach the target. It is a perfectly valid point on the part of the former cricketer that just looking at Dhoni's contribution is a bad way to remember that match. Well, this is only the latest salvo fired by Gambhir towards MSD.
