If selectors want to look beyond Virat, Rohit and Rahul, so be it: Gautam Gambhir
New Delhi, Dec 29: Double world champion Indian opener Gautam Gambhir believes that if the national selection committee believes in looking beyond seniors like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul, then "so be it".
The highest individual scorer in 2007 and 2011 World Cup triumphs also wants more clarity when it comes to the status of individual players vis-a-vis their place in the team. The BCCI has not clarified if the trio along with Rishabh Pant has been rested or dropped for white-ball series against Sri Lanka starting January 3.
"There should be clarity. There should be good communication between the selectors and these players. If the selectors have decided to look beyond these guys, so be it. I think a lot of countries have done that," Gambhir told ESPNcricinfo on Thursday.
Gambhir didn't understand the fuss about dropping of senior players.
"We make too much of a hue and cry when the selectors and management look beyond certain individuals.
"Ultimately, it's not about the individuals, but how you want to go about your plans for the next (T20) World Cup (in 2024), because you want to go in there and win it. If these guys haven't been able to achieve that, I think you never know. People like Suryakumar, the younger generation can go on to achieve that dream."
Gambhir felt that the comeback of the trio in the shortest format looks tough as of now.
"Personally, if you ask me, it looks tough," Gambhir said. "People like Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan should all be in the mix. Hardik Pandya is there, I'd like to try to get guys like Prithvi Shaw, Rahul Tripathi and Sanju Samson into the mix. They can play fearless cricket."
Gambhir didn't forget to take a dig at the "aggressive template" often spoken in public forums by the current team management headed by Rahul Dravid as mere lip service.
"We've spoken so much about the template and stuff going into the previous (T20) World Cup, that we want to play at a certain template, that we want to play aggressive cricket, but when it came to a crunch game (semi-final against England), all that template went out of the window."
He believes that new crop of players can only achieve this template.
"Probably, the new generation of cricketers might be able to achieve that template and play the T20 cricket everyone wants India to play. So I feel, if these guys continue to do well in the opportunities they get, it will be difficult for the rest of the the guys who have been rested or probably been dropped."
Pant has been dropped
As far as Rishabh Pant, who will report to NCA in the first week of January for a strength and conditioning programme, is concerned, Gambhir feels that he has been dropped from white-ball cricket for his consistency.
"First of all, the selectors need to be very clear if he's been rested or dropped," Gambhir said. "According to me, he (must have been) dropped from white-ball cricket. There has never been enough clarity. This word called 'rest' is great to have; it wasn't there when we were playing. Either we were dropped or selected."
Gambhir wants Ishan Kishan to get his fair share of opportunities.
"Rishabh had got his opportunities in white-ball cricket and hasn't been able to grab it, and someone else like Ishan Kishan has been able to grab it. So probably now he should just focus on red-ball cricket, and if his turn comes, whenever he gets that opportunity, try and grab it."
He doesn't see Pant making a comeback in T20 fold in near future.
"I don't see that happening in the near future, if Ishan continues to play the way he's playing. Because we keep talking about that template, but people like Prithvi Shaw, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav -- that template comes to them naturally."
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Explosive device kills 13, injures 38 on bus in southwestern Colombia as violence persists
Bogota (Colombia) (PTI): An explosive device killed 13 people travelling on a bus in southwestern Colombia on Saturday, an attack the country's army chief described as a “terrorist act" that also left at least 38 injured as violence linked to drug trafficking in the region escalates.
Octavio Guzman, the governor of the region of Cauca, said on X that the device was set off while the bus was travelling along the Panamerican Highway in the municipality of Cajibio. Five children were among the injured, Cauca Health Secretary Carolina Camargo told Noticias Caracol, a TV news program.
Gen. Hugo Lopez, commander of Colombia's Armed Forces, told a news conference that it was a “terrorist act" and blamed the network of a man known as “Ivan Mordisco” — one of Colombia's most wanted figures — and the Jaime Martínez faction. Both are dissidents of the now-defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia that operate in the region.
Neither Ivan Mordisco nor the Jaime Martínez faction abide by the peace agreement signed with the state in 2016.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro condemned the attack on X.
“Those who carried out the attack and killed seven civilians — and wounded 17 others — in Cajibío — many of them Indigenous people — are terrorists, fascists, and drug traffickers,” he wrote.
The attack is the latest in a spate of explosions that have attempted to target public infrastructure. At least 26 incidents have taken place in the past two days in southwestern Colombia, which Lopez said have only affected civilians.
They included a shooting at a police station in the rural area of Jamundi, and an attack on a Civil Aviation radar facility in El Tambo, where authorities took down three explosives-laden drones earlier on Saturday. No one was hurt.
On Friday, two vehicles rigged with explosives were detonated near military units in Cali and Palmira, causing material damage.
The escalation of violence in that region — a territory contested by illegal armed groups linked to drug trafficking — prompted the mobilisation of high-ranking officials on Saturday. Led by Defence Minister Pedro Sanchez, the delegation that includes regional governors and local authorities, was meeting in Palmira when the deadly explosion occurred.
“These criminals seek to instil fear, but we will respond with firmness,” Sanchez said on X.
Meanwhile, Francisca Toro, governor of Valle del Cauca, has called upon the national government to provide “immediate support.” In a message on X, Toro called for a reinforcement of public security forces, enhanced intelligence operations and “decisive actions” against crime in the face of a “terrorist-level escalation.”
According to authorities, Cauca and Valle del Cauca serve as a critical hub for illicit activities of illegal armed groups vying for control over sea and river access routes leading to the port of Buenaventura — a key transit point used to traffic drugs to Central America and Europe.
The government has also offered a reward of more than 1 million dollars for information leading to the capture of “Marlon,” who is identified as the leader of the region's dissident group. On Friday, local authorities offered more than USD 14,000 for information leading to the identification and location of those behind the attacks in Cali and Palmira.
