#bringbackgambhir: Fans slam BCCI for excluding Gautam Gambhir from India's 15-man squad for Champions Trophy 2017

New Delhi: While the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) did not pull off many surprises when it announced India's 15-man squad for upcoming ICC Champions Trophy, the fans were left agitated after Gautam Gambhir was ignored for the prestigious event.

The Delhi batsman, who last played an ODI for India in 2013, has been in fine form in the tenth edition of the Indian Premier League, where he has not only scored four half-centuries, but is also ranked third in the list of batsmen who have scored maximum runs in the tournament.

While the selectors went for Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma for the opening slot, the fans were of the opinion that Gambhir deserved a chance keeping his IPL form in mind.

Gambhir's loyal fans also slammed the Indian board and a hashtag named #bringbackgambhir was soon trending on social micro-blogging site Twitter. Here are some of the reactions:

#BringBackGambhir STOP politics dear BCCi and you'll nvr learn frm ur mistakes... Money alone is not mesurement of Trust

— Seetharam (@TSSeetharam) May 9, 2017

Team selection shouldn't based on the relationship between players @BCCI #bringbackgambhir

— anil kumar sajja (@anilmca1) May 8, 2017

What's wrong with @BCCI... @GautamGambhir is performing very well in #IPL2017 #bringbackgambhir #wewanthim

— s vinodkumar (@svinodspeaks) May 8, 2017

I dn't knw why tht slectrs nt takin @GautamGambhir fr@ICCChampions trophy He hs excellent recrd while this #IPL2017 #bringbackgambhir

— Arun (@arun_chandran_) May 8, 2017

Meanwhile, after missing the April 25 deadline, the Indian board finally announced the squad ending speculations of pulling out of the tournament.

Here is India's 15-man squad:

Virat Kohli (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni (wk), Yuvraj Singh, Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Manish Pandey

India are currently the defending champions. They defeated England in the 2013 edition.