Legendary India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar defended the Indian team management’s decision to send Axar Patel up the order in a tricky run chase in the second ODI against New Zealand, despite the move not paying off on the day.
Despite chasing a target of only 135 in the second ODI against New Zealand, India were in a spot of bother at one stage, having gone down to 39/3, losing the wickets of Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Things went from bad to worse when they fell to 47/4, as Axar Patel also departed soon after. Sent in at No. 5 ahead of KL Rahul, Axar managed only 7 runs before getting out, leaving India in big trouble.
Fortunately for India, KL Rahul, who walked in next, steadied the ship along with Shreyas Iyer, and stitched a decent partnership that ultimately turned the game in India’s favour.
While certain sections of cricket fans questioned head coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Shubman Gill’s decision to send Axar ahead of Rahul, legendary India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar defended the move.
“The bowlers have slight difficulty if a left-handed batter comes because you have to change the line and length you would have for a right-hander. In trying to do that, your line can change slightly even to the right-hander, where more chances of getting runs are created,” Gavaskar explained, speaking on Sony Sports network after the game.
“There was nothing wrong with that thought process. If Axar had scored runs, you would have said how good the captaincy was. Such moves work at times and don’t work on other occasions, and it didn’t work this time. You also knew there was a solid player like Rahul after him. That’s why you experiment at times,” he added.
In the past, Axar has been entrusted to bat higher up the order in tricky scenarios. The T20 World Cup 2024 final is the most obvious example, during which Axar put together a crucial partnership with Virat Kohli.
Axar also batted at No. 5, ahead of Rahul, for the entirety of India’s Champions Trophy 2025-winning campaign.
