Axar Patel was sent in at no.3 as pinch hitter in 2nd T20I in New Chandigarh instead of Suryakumar.
Former cricketers Dale Steyn and Robin Uthappa slammed India's head coach Gautam Gambhir, advising against such late-stage experimentation ahead of the T20 World Cup.
This came after India's unexpected choice to deploy captain Suryakumar Yadav at No. 4, rather than his regular one-down role, aroused eyebrows after the team's 51-run loss to South Africa in the second T20I in New Chandigarh.
Chasing 214, India lost vice-captain Shubman Gill to his maiden international golden duck in the first over. With the squad under early pressure, Suryakumar was supposed to come in at No. 3, but in an unexpected move, Axar Patel was promoted instead.
The move backfired, as Axar scored 21 runs. Suryakumar, who was already under pressure due to a poor run of T20Is, came in at number four and went for five off four balls.
Uthappa was furious with the experimentation, even taking a swipe at Suryakumar’s pre-series remark that India has no fixed batting positions apart from the openers.
“Well, honestly, that’s not how I see it. I’m only going by his words. In the pre-series press conference, he said the opening pair is set, but everyone else is moving pieces who must be flexible. With all due respect, I disagree. When you’re chasing a big score, your solid batters — your best batters — should walk in. If you send a pinch-hitter, then he must play like one. If Axar was sent as a pinch-hitter today, he shouldn’t have scored 21 off 21; he should’ve gone hard and gotten out trying. But even that plan doesn’t convince me. After losing a top batter in the first or second over, you need stability at the crease. Something feels off here, and India must fix it before it becomes a habit," Uthappa said on JioHotstar.
Steyn, who participated in the conversation as well, claimed that India had "thrown Axar to the wolves" with the move, claiming that by failing to deploy their finest hitter in a crucial chase, the team overcomplicated a straightforward scenario.
“He’s supposed to be your best batter. That’s not a trial-and-error situation — that’s just a major mistake in my opinion. And yes, Axar can bat, but sending him there felt like throwing him to the wolves. What was the role? If he walked in to slog from ball one, fine. Or if Abhishek had gotten out first and you wanted to maintain a left-right combination, that also makes sense. But it was a right-hander who got out, and you ended up with two left-handers at the top. A lot of question marks there. Perhaps there’s experimentation happening, similar to what's happening in South Africa. But tonight, in a match where you could’ve gone 2–0 up, I’d have sent your best batters and kept things simple," Steyn stated.
Uthappa also warned India head coach Gautam Gambhir to fix the positions of the top three batters, saying that constant experimentation with batting order might come back to bite them in the back.
“Your top three must be fixed, whether you’re setting a total or chasing one. These are specialist roles. Flexibility has its place, but that comes after the first six overs, once you’ve built a foundation. You can’t build that foundation when players don’t know their roles on a given day. Using a pinch-hitter is fine only in the right scenario — for example, if Abhishek gets out early and you maintain the left-right combination while still sending your best batter. Had he come in at one-drop, he would’ve gotten around 60 balls; instead, he walked in at No. 4. This constant experimentation has been going on for a while, and I worry it will hurt India at a crucial stage of a major tournament. You don’t want that happening at a World Cup,” Uthappa stated.
The third T20I between India and South Africa will be played in Dharamshala on December 14.