India was in trouble at one point after falling to 39/3 and losing the wickets of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Shubman Gill despite chasing a total of just 135 in the second ODI against New Zealand.
When they dropped to 47/4, things became worse because Axar Patel left shortly after. India was in serious difficulty when Axar, who was sent in at No. 5 ahead of KL Rahul, scored just 7 runs before going out. Luckily for India, Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul, who came in next, stabilised the situation and formed a respectable partnership that ultimately helped India win.
Sunil Gavaskar On Team India’s Strategy
Legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar praised head coach Gautam Gambhir and skipper Shubman Gill’s choice to put Axar ahead of Rahul, despite criticism from certain cricket fans.
“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 said 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.
Axar has previously been trusted to bat higher in the order in challenging situations. The most notable example is the T20 World Cup 2024 final, where Axar and Virat Kohli formed a vital alliance. For the whole of India’s Champions Trophy 2025 winning campaign, Axar also batted at No. 5, ahead of Rahul. In the second ODI, India reached 113/7 after 26 overs thanks to 30 from Rahul and Shreyas before the action was halted by rain. India used the DLS method to win by 4 runs.