Abhishek Nayar, the assistant coach of the Indian team, defended head coach Gautam Gambhir and his batting order shuffle in the second ODI after India lost by 32 runs in the end. With this win, Sri Lanka went 1-0 up in the three-ODIs series with one match to go.
After India’s unexpected defeat, the decision to elevate all-rounder Shivam Dube to number four over seasoned batsmen Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul sparked heated debate. In the second one-day international against Sri Lanka, Axar Patel was assigned to bat at number five ahead of Rahul and Iyer.
Dube’s promotion did not pay off, as he was removed for a duck on his fourth delivery, leaving India in a difficult situation. When Iyer (7) and Rahul (0) eventually arrived at Nos. 6 and 7, respectively, they did not impact the situation in Colombo.
Sri Lankan spinner Jeffrey Vandersay made an outstanding effort, finishing with figures of 6/33 to become the first Sri Lankan leg-spinner to accomplish this feat in an ODI and helping the hosts take a 1-0 lead in the present three-match ODI series against the Men in Blue.
“If you look at numbers…”- Abhishek Nayar defends Gambhir’s decision to change batting positions
Nayar defended Gambhir and team management’s decision, emphasizing that a batter’s specific position is less important than their performance during the game. He observed that Team India lost important wickets in the middle overs when the middle-order hitters were in play.
The assistant coach acknowledged that batting positions can influence performance, but the strategy was on retaining a left-right combination to counter Sri Lanka’s spin assault. He believed that using middle-order hitters in their roles was the correct move regardless of the outcome.
“My belief is that in any sport, the position only matters if you’re playing in different areas of a game. We lost wickets in the middle phase, and that’s where the middle-order batters batted. It’s not as if middle order batters batted towards the end,” Nayar said in the post-match presentation.
“If you look at numbers like four, five, or six, maybe sometimes it can play games in your head. It was more about keeping a left-and-right combination, keeping in mind that there were offspinners, and a legspinner in the Sri Lanka team. The thought process was right. When it doesn’t work out, these questions are asked often. But I’ve always believed that if a middle-order batter bats as a middle-order batter, it is the right decision,” he added.
Earlier, in the first ODI, Washington Sundar batted at number four instead of Dube. He could not make a difference and left with a single-digit score. Iyer and Rahul batted at no. 5 and no. 6, getting 23 and 31 respectively.