'That's the way cricket is meant to be played' - Gautam Gambhir on India's left-right combination

India’s recent 3-0 clean sweep over England in the T20I series saw their dominance, but a few tactical decisions triggered questions among experts and fans. One such decision was the promotion of Axar Patel to the batting order, which left KL Rahul with limited opportunities. Head coach Gautam Gambhir defended the decision, specifying the importance of right-left combinations in modern-day cricket.

Throughout the series, the hosts displayed exceptional performances with both bat and ball. The third T20I was a one-sided affair, with India posting a total of 356 runs, thanks to a century from Shubman Gill (112) and half-centuries from Shreyas Iyer (78) and Virat Kohli (52). England started aggressively in their chase, but once their openers fell, the rest of the batting order followed suit.

Team India’s bowlers, including Arshdeep Singh (2/33) and Harshit Rana (2/31), dismantled the visitor's middle order to wrap up a 142-run victory. The coach questioned the traditional approach of stacking a lineup with right-hand batters, mentioning that match situations and impact players should dictate team decisions rather than averages and stats

"That's the way cricket is meant to be played. 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," Gambhir said at the post-match press conference as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

"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 the future as well," he further added.

At the moment, KL is a No.1 wicketkeeper for us: Gambhir

Gautam Gambhir’s inclination towards maintaining a left-right combination is well known. During his tenure as mentor for Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL, the team’s right-left partnerships increased significantly from 58% in 2022-23 to 74% in 2024. However, he clarified that this wasn’t an obsession but a strategic decision to maximize the team’s potential. Rahul, despite being sidelined for a few chases, remains India’s first-choice wicketkeeper, confirmed Gambhir.

"At the moment, KL is a No.1 wicketkeeper for us, and he's delivered for us. 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," he further added.

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Another experiment was India’s consideration of including Yashasvi Jaiswal in the playing XI. In the same vein, Shreyas Iyer revealed that he was initially going to sit out for Jaiswal, but an injury to Virat Kohli provided him an opportunity, which he capitalized on with a match-winning performance. Gambhir confirmed that Iyer was always in India’s plans and that the team wanted to rotate players before the Champions Trophy.

"He wasn't supposed to be benched throughout the series. We wanted to give Yashasvi a go in the first game and see what he can bring to the table because he was in really good form in Australia. So we wanted to see what kind of an innings can he play. I know you can't judge someone by one innings, but we always knew that Shreyas is going to be an important player for us. What he's done at No. 4, be it the World Cup or forget about even the World Cup, he's just an important player," Gambhir concluded.