This management has used numerous players, tried different batting orders, used perplexing bowling combinations, and fielded imbalance playing XIs.
The one common theme during this Gautam Gambhir era has been experimenting with everything across formats. This management has used numerous players, tried different batting orders, used perplexing bowling combinations, and fielded imbalance playing XIs.
Even days before the Champions Trophy 2025, India have been trying different things rather than settling with a combination that can backfire massively. For instance, India have used Axar Patel at No.5 ahead of KL Rahul in the ongoing England series in order to maintain the LHB-RHB combination, which has unsettled Rahul’s position.
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Lucknow Super Giants’ mentor Zaheer Khan has warned the team management about excessive experiments. On Cricbuzz, he stated that trying different combinations is fine, but the team can’t ignore certain aspects while experimenting.
“It’s absolutely fine to try out. They are fully entitled to do what they really feel as tactics. But, in the process, you can’t ignore certain things. There are terms and conditions which apply with addressing certain plans. As long as you are ticking those boxes, you will stay on track. You will not go off the track. You will not see the downside of things. That is very important for them to know.”
Building on his point, Zaheer Khan added that people outside the dressing room can only try making sense of the experiments inside. However, players should be given clarity about what the team tries to achieve to avoid creating a communication gap.
“From the outside, we can only do guesswork and try and put logic to the thinking. But when it comes to being part of the dressing room, if you are the stakeholder, you should be able to tick all those boxes to make sure everyone knows what we are trying to achieve. You will create some communication gap at some stage.”
It is baffling to see the team trying to break things that are well settled, and this is not limited to one format. The experiments in the shortest version are understandable since they want to try everything before the T20 World Cup 2026.
However, the management could have avoided certain things in this ODI series since the Champions Trophy is not too far. It remains to be seen what tactics they use in the final ODI, which will also be the last game before the ICC event.
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