India head coach Gautam Gambhir and his team management have come under severe criticism for leaving the ODI batting order in persistent flux during the series decider against England at Lord’s on Sunday.
Chasing a daunting 388 at Lord’s, India suffered a defeat by 27 runs. While the margins looked closer in the end on paper, India were left with a huge deficit to close in the final 10 overs against a sharper England bowling attack.
Former India captain Krishnamachari Srikkanth slammed the team management for shuffling the batting order and demoting wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul to No. 6 during the monumental chase. While captain Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma set up the chase with a half-century and a hundred respectively, No. 3 Virat Kohli was followed by wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer in the chase, followed by Rahul.
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Srikkanth compared the situation to the T20I squad where the management recently shuffled openers Sanju Samson and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi across seven T20Is in Ireland and England.
“Will anyone send KL Rahul at No.6 when chasing such a huge total? That guy has won you so much in tough run-chases. Just like you screwed up Sanju Samson and Vaibhav Suryavanshi, now you are screwing up KL Rahul. Is Rahul a a No.6 or 7 batter? This is gross injustice. His body language also looked like someone nervous yesterday,” Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel.
While No. 4 Kishan fell for 14, Iyer was dismissed for a duck. As the scooring shot up steeply, Rahul was eventually cleaned up by Jofra Archer for 12 off eight deliveries.
“India needed someone to do the Jos Buttler role. That’s where Kishan and Shreyas Iyer got out rightaway. But if Rahul had gone in at No.4, he would have complimented Virat Kohli like they did a few times in the 2023 World Cup. Rahul is capable of accelerating easily. Instead, they sent him out to bat when the match was over. How was he possibly going to win the game needing 15 per over with Axar Patel?”
The series defeat marked India’s third successive overseas ODI series loss since Gambhir took charge of the ODI side in mid-2024.
