Gautam Gambhir, the former Indian batsman believes that Indian cricket team should not have removed KL Rahul from the opening slot in the ODI. Just before the ODI, in his column on the Times of India.
Gambhir on KL Rahul’s batting position
According to Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli’s decision of playing KL Rahul in the middle-order was not a great idea. Kohli had already revealed in the pre-match conference that Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal would open for India in the absence of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan. Gambhir wrote, I am not sure if it is a great idea to remove KL Rahul from the top of the order.”
He also opined that Pant could have been behind the wickets with KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal opening. “If anything India could have gone with a Rahul-Agarwal combination and have Rishabh Pant keep wickets. Rahul is a valuable asset and should be well looked after.” He explained, “Yes, he (Kl Rahul) has done some good work behind the stumps in the games that he has kept. But I am not sure he should be expected to keep in the 50-over format.”
Rahul has been in fantastic form off-late and worked effectively in the middle-order for India. Hence Kohli did not want to change the combination further. But Gambhir thinks that keeping the 50-over format might increase the burden on him.
Gambhir on whitewash
Gambhir, although was happy with India’s whitewash in the T20I series and wrote, “A whitewash on foreign soil is unprecedented. This must be celebrated for years to come as it is no mean feat,” Gambhir asserted. The level of competition was good, the conditions were not overly friendly and the crammed schedule meant that Indians had to be in top shape.”
He further recalled his days and wrote, “Victories in cricket use to evoke strange emotions in me. After some memorable wins, either I have slept like a log or or the excitement and adrenalin wouldn’t let me sleep at all. I won’t be surprised if the boys in New Zealand are feeling.”
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