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India were absolutely clinical in the ODI series against England. The Rohit Sharma-led side won 3-0 and ticked quite a few boxes ahead of the Champions Trophy.
Most of the batters got a decent hit in the middle and found themselves amongst the runs. Meanwhile, the bowlers also put on a good show. Harshit Rana impressed on debut while Arshdeep Singh continued to showcase his worth in white-ball cricket. Mohammed Shami also got a few overs under his belt after a long injury layoff. The spinners were very effective as well.
Hence, it was an all-round display as India outplayed England in every department. There was one major talking point was Axar Patel’s promotion to No. 5. The left-handed all-rounder got scores of 52 and 41 not out in the two games he batted at 5 and played a vital role in run-chases of 249 and 305 respectively.
KL Rahul was the incumbent at that spot, having had a fabulous 2023 World Cup where he got 452 runs while averaging 75.33. Not just that tournament, Rahul has excellent numbers at 5 in ODI cricket – 1299 runs at an average of 56.47 and a strike-rate of 96.36.
However, Gambhir believes it’s more about the impact. Plus, it would break the top six who are all right-handers and add variation as well. The India head coach backed the left-right theory and revealed that it is something that they will continue to do in the future.
“It’s not about the batting order, it’s about who can create what impact. And it’s about just if you have the option of putting a quality left-hand batter in the middle; why won’t you do that? Why would you want to have top five as right-handers? We don’t look at averages and stats and all that stuff. We look at who can deliver more at that number. And Axar has done fabulously
well. Both the games [in which] he got the opportunity, he delivered for us. I know there will always be talk – there will always be people talking about it – but I think that’s the way we want to go in future as well,” Gautam Gambhir was quoted saying in the press conference in Ahmedabad.
Rahul batted at No. 6 in the first two ODIs where he got scores of 2 and 10. India didn’t have a lot to do when he came out to bat but he couldn’t remain unbeaten either. When he was back at No. 5 for the third game, he struck 40 off 29 balls.
KL Rahul is the one who’s going to start: Gautam Gambhir
While Rahul may not have received the vote of confidence for batting at 5, he was confirmed as India’s first-choice wicket-keeper in the 50-over format. Gambhir spoke highly about the Karnataka lad and the way he has delivered for the team. Thus, the India head coach felt Rishabh Pant will have to wait for his opportunity while confirming that Rahul will start the
Champions Trophy.
“At the moment, KL is a No.1 wicketkeeper for us, and he’s delivered for us. And see, when you’ve got two wicketkeepers in this squad, you can’t play both the wicketkeepers with the kind of quality we’ve got. Hopefully, whenever he gets that opportunity, he should be ready for it. That’s all I can say at the moment. Right now, KL is the one who’s going to start,” Gambhir added.
India will now travel to Dubai for the 2025 Champions Trophy. Their first game is against Bangladesh on the 20th of February.
