Former Indian batter Robin Uthappa slammed India’s tactics in the ongoing T20I series against South Africa. Uthappa said the team management is overdoing the flexibility in the batting order. Recently, head coach Gautam Gambhir said batting orders are overrated in T20Is, barring the opening pair.
Axar Patel was promoted to number five after India lost three early wickets.
Meanwhile, India found themselves tottering at 78-4, and it was Hardik Pandya’s knock that helped the team in posting a par score of 175 runs on the board. Pandya smashed a blistering knock of 59 runs off just 28 balls with the help of six fours and four sixes.
Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav and vice-captain Shubman Gill are currently out of form, and it would be crucial for the duo to return amongst the runs.
Robin Uthappa said on his YouTube Channel, “If this goes south, it’ll backfire on both Surya and Gautam Gambhir. And people are anyway gunning for his (Gambhir )head. You can’t go into a World Cup as the defending champions with your main batters not in good form. In the first T20I, Hardik saved the skins out of India’s innings. If it wasn’t for him, we would have been 30-40 runs off that total and that’s a 130. Those things concern me.”
Uthappa said SKY hasn’t been in the best of forms and it could impact him and his team in the T20 World Cup.
“Today it’s not affecting him because India is winning matches. He’s one of the most successful Indian captain right now with an 85 win percentage. But if that drops over the next nine games, then it starts impacting his batting and it starts impacting how he leads on the field as well. India is leading into a World Cup at home where you want to have your main batters in really good form, especially when you are defending champions,” he said.
The former flamboyant batter said India needs a stable top three ahead of the T20I showpiece.
“I am a little sceptical about that. I actually feel you need to have at least your top three really settled in. One of the reasons Surya hasn’t performed as well as he has for the Mumbai Indians or before he started moving up and down the order is because there is no settled position. Yes, in T20 cricket, after the first six overs, you have to be super flexible. But in those first six overs, if a wicket falls, your No. 3 has to be a set piece. It cannot be a moving piece,” said Uthappa (via the aforementioned source).
The second T20I between India and South Africa will be played at Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, Mullanpur, Chandigarh, on Thursday.
