Former Indian opener, Gautam Gambhir criticized the Indian team management for excluding Suryakumar Yadav from the playing XI in the third T20I against England on Tuesday. The veteran opener, Rohit Sharma replaced Suryakumar, but the omission of the latter irked Gambhir who wants the team management to give the Mumbai batsman a consistent run.
As per the quotes in ESPNCricinfo, Gautam Gambhir said, “It amazes me, seven months before the World Cup he starts preparing for World Cup, and probably after the World Cup he will start preparing for the next World Cup. Imagine if there is an injury issue, what have you seen of Suryakumar Yadav, what have you seen of Suryakumar Yadav in international cricket.
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He further added, “I hope nobody gets injured but if there is an injury case and somebody needs to bat at number 4 and number 5. For example, there has to be a replacement for Shreyas Iyer, who are you gonna go for. Probably give him that opportunity in three or four games and see where he stands.”
The former India opener opined that if Suryakumar had delivered for the hosts in the ongoing series, he could be looked at as a backup option at the number four batting position. Gambhir said resting players for a long time and doing constant rotations has created an unwanted problem and cited England’s approach of fielding the same XI in the T20I series.
Explaining the same, Gambhir said, “In every game, there is some change or the other. Look at what England has done in this third T20I, they have not changed their batting order. India will never be short of talent, there will always be players coming through because we have got such a great structure, we have got such a great franchise cricket a tournament like IPL. But when you keep juggling players, keep dropping players you will create problems for yourself.”
India skipper Virat Kohli played a whirlwind knock of 77 not out to guide India to 156/6, but the total did not prove to be enough as Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow made the chase look easy as England registered an eight-wicket win. Buttler and Bairstow remained unbeaten on 83 and 40 respectively.
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With the win in the third T20I, England has now gained a 2-1 lead in the five-match series. Both teams will meet in the fourth T20I on Thursday which will be played at the same venue.
