Gambhir goes back home, will he now play CLT20?

So another one bites the dust for the Indians. Indian opening batsman, Gautam Gambhir, who had been struggling with his head injury throughout the fourth Test match and the time after that, has finally been ruled out of the rest of the series that includes the T20I today and the ODIs.

This was some time coming frankly and so does not come as a big surprise. There was a similar incident in the IPL earlier when Dale Steyn had banged his head into the ground and had missed out on many a games. It is a surprise then, that Gambhir did not realise that the problem was always going to be grave and that he needed to pack his bags and recover fully – probably for the Champions League T20.

Yes, the Champions League T20 again. So, will it be correct to assume that after a couple of weeks’ break, the Kolkata Knight Riders skipper will be ready to face the music in the CLT20 – both, figuratively and literally.

To be fair to Gambhir, it is hardly his fault that he has injured himself and will not be fit for the ODIs. Having seen him play, he would have been gutted not to be able to bat in the ODIs, where he would have had the chance to make sure that he overcame the troubles from the Test matches.

In fact, the way he batted in the fourth Test match, struggling with the pain and the eyesight issue and even getting hit on his head in the process talks a lot about his grit.

However, as unlucky as it is and as cruel as it may sound, the issue is that this would be the second time in a row that Gambhir would be missing an international series but playing in the cash-rich tournaments. This happened in the IPL as well, when Gambhir decided to play on despite his injury to the shoulder, but went on to miss the next international series – the one against West Indies, despite being the captain of the side.

If it happens again, there cannot be too much doubt that there would be some kind of a backlash, especially given that immediately after the CLT20, there would be a home series against England, followed by another against West Indies, which India cannot afford to not win convincingly.

It may not, hence, be a bad idea for the Kolkata captain to give up playing the CLT20, take a break and get back to full fitness for the international series.