‘What is the fairness of sending KL Rahul at No.6?’: Former India coach raises question amid New Zealand ODIs

KL Rahul’s batting position became the talk of the town after India’s second ODI against New Zealand in Wellington, with former India cricketer Krishnamachari Srikkanth questioning why Axar Patel was sent ahead of him.India were struggling at 39/3 when Axar came into bat. Although he had dealt with difficult situations on the same pitch before, he struggled against the New Zealand bowling attack.He was plagued by uneven bounce and short shots and eventually lost his wicket after scoring just seven runs off 17 balls.Rahul, who replaced Axar, looked much more comfortable on a pitch where most of the batsmen from both the teams found it difficult to score. His performance raised questions about the decision to send him so low in the batting order.

Srikkanth finds Rahul’s batting position unfair

Former India coach Krishnamachari Srikkanth has criticized the team management’s decision. He said on his YouTube channel, “But what is the fairness of sending Rahul to the 6th position after Axar Patel?”He also pointed out that Rahul is an experienced player who has scored international centuries at No. 3 and No. 4. “Gautam Gambhir must understand that Rahul is a marquee player. He has scored centuries at No. 3 and No. 4 in India. Yet he is being reduced to such a role. It is a gross injustice,” Srikkanth said.He further praised Rahul’s ability to handle difficult conditions and said, “He is the only one who looked comfortable in the second ODI. Once the conditions are difficult, only two players step in – Virat Kohli and KL Rahul. If Rahul got out early in the last match, India is over. How can you justify Axar batting ahead of him?”

Gavaskar supports the decision to send Axar forward

However, former India captain Sunil Gavaskar had a different opinion. He favored the idea of ​​sending a left-handed batsman in front of right-handers to disrupt the rhythm of the opposition bowlers.“Bitchers have a bit of trouble when a left-handed batsman comes in because you have to change the line and the length you would have for a right-hander. Trying to do that can change your line slightly to a right-hander where you have a better chance of getting a run,” explained Gavaskar.He added that such decisions don’t always work, but that doesn’t make them wrong.“There was nothing wrong with that thought process. If Axar had scored, you would have said how good the captaincy was. Sometimes moves like that work and sometimes they don’t, and it didn’t work this time. You also knew there was a solid player like Rahul after him. That’s why you experiment sometimes,” Gavaskar noted.