‘We don’t look at averages, stats and all that stuff’: Gautam Gambhir on Axar Patel’s elevation
After India defeated England 3-0 in the ODI series, coach Gautam Gambhir explained his rationale for promoting Axar Patel up the batting order over KL Rahul in the first two ODIs.
“That’s the way cricket is meant to be played,” Gambhir explained when asked about Axar’s promotion in the batting order. “I know a lot of people talk about it, but that’s the way we got to play the game, and that’s the way cricket should be played. It’s not about the batting order, it’s about who can create what impact. If you have the option of putting a quality left-hand batter in the middle, why won’t you do that?” Gambhir asked.
“Why would you want to have top five as right-handers? We don’t look at averages and stats and all that stuff. We look at who can deliver more at that number. And Axar has done fab...