Gautam Gambhir, the new India head coach, has come under fire for his strategies in the ongoing Sri Lanka v India ODI series. After the first ODI in Colombo ended in a tie as India failed to complete the chase of 230 runs, India similarly lost the second ODI.
Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka won the toss in the second match on August 4th and decided to bat first. Sri Lanka posted 240/9 in 50 overs, with Kamindu Mendis and Avishka Fernando getting 40 runs each. For India, Washington Sundar claimed three wickets and Kuldeep Yadav took two.
India began their pursuit strongly, with Rohit Sharma (65) and Shubman Gill (35) scoring 97 runs in 13.3 overs for the first wicket. But once they were out, the remaining Indian hitters struggled against Sri Lankan spinners.
Jeffrey Vandersay, in particular, had his best ODI statistics of 6/33, while Charith Asalanka claimed three wickets as India were bowled out for 208. Only Akshar Patel made it through with a score of 44, including four fours and two sixes.
There was a better chance of giving opportunities to other players: Ashish Nehra slams Gautam Gambhir
India’s playing XI did not change for the second game, hence Rishabh Pant, Khaleel Ahmed, Riyan Parag, and Harshit Rana have yet to appear in the series.
Former India fast bowler Ashish Nehra believes Gautam Gambhir made a mistake by bringing in players like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli for the series when the objective should have been to focus on new faces.
“The next series India play is 2-3 months later, a rare thing for us. So for players like Rohit and Kohli…I feel there was a better chance of giving opportunities to other players during this series. I know Gambhir is a new coach, and he wants to spend some time with the experienced players, but it isn’t like he doesn’t know the two of them. He is not a foreign coach who wants to get his equation right with Kohli and Rohit,” Ashish Nehra said on Sony Sports.
He felt the two veteran hitters were unnecessary for the game and might have had a longer vacation, returning at the start of the home season in September.
“So it was a good opportunity for him to try out the new players, and Rohit and Kohli could play when the home season begins. I’m not saying it is a wrong approach, but it could have been one of the strategies in this series,” he said.
Kohli and Rohit were apparently planning to take a longer break from cricket following the T20 World Cup, but at Gambhir’s persuasion, the two cut their break short and came to Colombo for the ODI series.
The move only appeared sensible from Gambhir’s perspective, since he wanted to obtain a clearer idea of India’s potential Champions Trophy lineup next year, considering that the squad will only play one additional series in the format, against England at home in February 2025.
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