Former India captain Krishnamachari Srikkanth chastised head coach Gautam Gambhir for his treatment of KL Rahul during the recent ODI series against England. Rahul has been preferred to Rishabh Pant so far in the series, but he did not bat in the best position.  

In the first two ODIs, the team management promoted bowling all-rounder Axar Patel to number 5 in place of him. In the ODI series last year, Rahul was pushed down the order as Washington Sundar and Shivam Dube were sent over him to get the left-right combination in the middle.

Srikkanth, who is highly vocal about his ideas and opinions, believes Rahul's condition is unfair because he has excelled at the number five position.

"Shreyas Iyer is in good form, which is a positive for India. But I feel for KL Rahul, it’s very unfortunate. Yes, Axar Patel is scoring 30s and 40s, but what they are doing with KL Rahul is not fair. Look at his record, he has excelled at No. 5, with a brilliant record. I don’t know what the team management is thinking regarding his position. If he bats at No. 6 or 7, he ends up scoring 6 or 7. It’s unfair," Srikkanth said on his YouTube Channel.

Axar, who was moved to number 5 in the last two ODIs, delivered good performances and scored critical runs of 52 and 41 to justify his promotion. However, Rahul's demotion did not work out, as he made poor scores of 2 and 10.

Srikkanth slammed Gambhir's decision to drop Rahul to number 6 to accommodate a left-right combination, which could backfire in a key match.

"Hey, Gambhir, what you are doing is not right. Yes, depending on the situation, India can send Axar at No. 5, but it cannot be a consistent strategy. If you keep making such changes, you know what will happen—there will be a crucial match where everything falls apart. That’s what worries me. You can’t justify it by talking about the left-right combination. Does that mean you don’t care about a left-right combination in the top four? Why does it only matter at No. 5?" he added.

Srikkanth advised that if Gambhir wants to keep Axar at number 5, he should go with Rishabh Pant at number 6 to avoid undermining Rahul's confidence.

"I have no issue with Axar Patel—he is making the most of his chances. But if you’re pushing Rahul down the order, then play Rishabh Pant at No. 6. Why undermine Rahul’s confidence? Is it fair to a player who has performed brilliantly in world cricket?" he added.

Seeing the current situation, Kris Srikkanth made a bold claim and stated that Rahul might end up warming the bench in the third ODI and the upcoming Champions Trophy.

"Now, what you’ve done is you’ve sidelined Rishabh Pant as well. One of them has to play. I have a feeling Pant will feature in the third ODI and then in the Champions Trophy too. Rahul might end up warming the bench again. You should play your best player at No. 5, regardless of whether he is left-handed or right-handed," he added.

The third and final ODI will be played in Ahmedabad with India already leading the series 2-0.