India head coach Gautam Gambhir has called Team India’s batting order ‘overrated in white-ball cricket’ after the Men in Blue won the three-match ODI series against South Africa 2-1. India defeated South Africa in the third and final ODI in Vizag by 9 wickets to pocket the series 2-1.

In the just-finished ODI series, Ruturaj Gaikwad, a true opener, was forced to bat at No. 4 due to the combination, and all-rounder Washington Sundar has consistently floated in the lineup.

“I think in a one-day format, you should know the template that you want to play with. I've always believed that in white-ball cricket, batting orders are very overrated, except for the opening combination.

In Test cricket, obviously, you've got to have a fixed batting order, but it (batting order) is very, very overrated (in white-ball formats),” said Gambhir in the post-match press conference.

He used Washington Sundar, who has been batting at several different positions for India in every other game, as an example to bolster his argument.

“See, you're talking about someone who's got 100 at Manchester, a 50 at Oval, and who averages, what, 40-plus in tests. Sometimes, you've got to look at balance as well. I know it's tough on someone like Washi, but then I think he's done an incredible job, batting at No. 3, No. 5, and No. 8.

That's the kind of character he is, and that's the kind of character we want in that dressing room, who is willing to do everything for the team with a smile on his face, which I, as a batter, know how tough it is. I'm sure he's going to continue doing that, and we're going to keep developing him because he's got a massive future ahead for Indian cricket,” said Gambhir.

Gambhir recognized that dew had a significant impact on the outcomes of all three ODIs in this series, but he was not shocked.

“We know that during this time of the year, the toss can play a massive role because when you're bowling first or when you're bowling second, there's a lot of difference. Our bowlers felt that in the first two games. We saw what our batters did when we were batting second. So yes, there is no doubt that there is a lot of difference. But we still had to play good cricket today,” he said.

However, Gambhir felt that dew might not impact matches during the upcoming five-match T20I series.

“Look, it probably won't affect T20s much because both teams will get dew; as in one-day cricket, the team that bowls first doesn't get dew at all. The team that bowls second gets a total of 50 overs of dew. But in T20, when the match starts at 7 o'clock, the dew is the same for both teams. Maybe the team that bowls second will get a little more dew, but both teams will get it,” he added.

The five-match T20I series begins on December 9 in Cuttack.

(PTI inputs)