Former Indian cricketer Kris Srikkanth has slammed India head coach Gautam Gambhir for his ‘bold call’ of sending in Axar Patel at no. 5 before KL Rahul, as India chased a tricky target of 134 runs in the second ODI against New Zealand in Wellington.
Earlier, New Zealand was bowled out for 134 runs despite Daryl Mitchell’s 55 and Mitchell Santner’s 31. Gurnoor Brar picked 4/30 for India and was adjudged Player of the Match. In response, India reached 113/7 when rain led to the match being called off. India won the game by 4 runs via the DLS method.
Rohit Sharma made 23, and Shreyas Iyer made 30, while KL Rahul remained unbeaten on 26, as India won the game, with batters struggling with pace and bounce under rainy conditions.
However, former India captain Kris Srikkanth is unhappy to see Rahul demoted to the No. 6 role, criticizing head coach Gambhir for the decision and pointing to the veteran batter's performances for India at the No. 3 and No. 4 positions.
Srikkanth said that only two players in the Indian team rise to the occasion in difficult situations—Virat Kohli and KL Rahul—and one of them is being unfairly pushed down the batting order.
"He's the only one who looked comfortable in the second ODI. Once the conditions are difficult, only two players step up—Virat Kohli and KL Rahul. If Rahul got out early in the last match, India would have finished. But what justice is it to send Rahul at No. 6 after Axar Patel? How can you justify Axar Patel batting ahead of him? Gautam Gambhir needs to understand Rahul is a marquee player. He has scored centuries at No. 3 and 4 for India. Yet, he is being reduced to such a role. It's gross injustice," said Srikkanth on his YouTube channel.
Gambhir didn’t specify any reason for Axar Patel’s promotion, but it most likely had to do with the left-right combination, as India lost early and quick wickets.
Srikkanth spoke highly about India's rookie pacer, Gurnoor Brar, who emerged as the Player of the Match for his figures of 4 wickets for 30 runs.
"Gurnoor Brar is pretty good in ODIs and Tests. It's in T20s that he's a problem. But the young Indian pacers have really impressed. Indian pacers have always delivered when conditions favor them, not just now, but for years, since the Javagal Srinath days. But on normal wickets, Indian pacers always get smashed," said Srikkanth.
India and New Zealand will clash in the third ODI of the five-game series on November 10 in Hamilton.
