India beat England 3-0 quite comprehensively, but two irregularities in the batting department raised a few eyebrows, and both might have something to do with coach Gautam Gambhir’s preference for right-left batting combinations. In two of the chases, Axar Patel was promoted, which left KL Rahul with little to do. It attracted criticism from commentators, but it was in no way an assessment of Rahul’s batting abilities.
“That’s the way cricket is meant to be played,” Gambhir said of Axar’s promotion. “I know a lot of people talk about it, but that’s the way we got to play the game, and that’s the way cricket should be played. 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.”
That Gambhir likes right-left combinations is no secret. When he came back to Kolkata Knight Riders as a mentor, their right-left partnerships went up from 58% in 2022 and 2023, to 74% in 2024. Having said that, it doesn’t seem to be an unhealthy obsession. For example, it doesn’t penalise Rahul, who has done his job in the middle order well, just for being a right-hand batter.
“At the moment, KL is a No.1 wicketkeeper for us, and he’s delivered for us,” Gambhir said when asked about Rishabh Pant’s chances. “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.”