Gautam Gambhir’s decisions regarding batting order were surprisingImage Credit source: PTI
Just a few months after becoming T20 World Champion for the second consecutive time, Team India seems to be surrounded by questions in this format. The Indian team, which came on the field for the first time after winning the World Cup in March 2026, has lost 4 out of 5 consecutive matches, while 1 has been cancelled. Especially the defeat against England in the third T20 has shocked us. India’s explosive batting was slipping in this match. But in that defeat of Nottingham, coach Gautam Gambhir’s strange decisions regarding the batting order also played a big role in this defeat.
After the shocking win in the T20 series against Ireland, the same story is now repeating in England too. The first T20 was washed out due to rain but in the second T20, Team India could not defend the score. In the third match in Nottingham, they were out for just 76 runs and lost by 125 runs. With such a defeat, questions are bound to be raised on batting because there are more than one explosive batsman in it. But apart from the failure of the batsmen, the decisions to promote Harshit Rana and Akshar Patel in the batting order were also surprising.
The Indian team had lost 3 wickets till the third over itself. Normally, at such a time, vice-captain Tilak Verma should have come but coach Gambhir promoted Axar Patel and sent him to number five. But this decision also did not work and in the very next over, Akshar Patel along with captain Shreyas Iyer also returned to the pavilion. That means 5 wickets had fallen in 5 overs.
Now it was expected that Shivam Dubey would be sent to bat but then a strange decision was taken and bowling all-rounder Harshit Rana was sent instead of a regular batsman of the team. As a lower order batsman, Harshit Rana has batting ability and can score runs quickly in the last overs. But when 5 wickets had fallen for 52 runs in 5 overs, it would have been a wise decision to send a batsman like Shivam Dubey.
Overall, tampering with the batting order and uncertainty about the role of the batsmen has also increased the problems of Team India. The batsmen can be blamed for bad shots or failure to understand the conditions, but the responsibility for such decisions falls on the shoulders of only one person and that is head coach Gautam Gambhir. Apparently, Gambhir is also under the scanner and despite winning the World Cup, his coaching methods are being doubted.
