India’s dominant 3-0 series victory over England left little room for doubt about their superiority, but one aspect of their batting order drew scrutiny. In two of the successful chases, all-rounder Axar Patel was promoted up the order, leaving KL Rahul with minimal involvement. This move, seemingly influenced by head coach Gautam Gambhir’s preference for a right-left combination in the middle order, sparked debate among commentators.

Addressing the criticism, Gambhir defended the strategy, emphasizing that adaptability in the batting order is crucial to modern cricket.

“That’s the way cricket is meant to be played,” Gambhir stated during a press conference.

He added, “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 wouldn’t you do that?”

He explained that his approach is not dictated by conventional statistics but rather by the impact a player can have in a given situation.

“Why would you want to have a top five consisting only of 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 fabulously well. In both games in which he got the opportunity, he delivered for us. I know there will always be talk, but this is the direction we want to take moving forward,” the head coach said.

Gambhir also pointed out that this tactical shift strengthens India’s batting depth while maintaining a balanced team composition.

“If Axar is batting at five, it only lengthens the batting, with KL [Rahul] at six, Hardik [Pandya] at seven, and Jaddu [Ravindra Jadeja] at eight. Jaddu is a world-class batter, and I don’t think you can consider him a tail-ender. If you can bat till number eight, it’s always a great luxury, plus we have six quality bowling options. We just wanted a left-hander in the middle to break the top five right-handers,” he said.

While this approach has divided opinion, Gambhir remains firm in his belief that flexibility in the batting order will benefit India in the long run. With crucial tournaments ahead, including the Champions Trophy, it remains to be seen whether this strategy becomes a long-term blueprint for the team.

With India 2-0 up, as many as three players found a spot each in India’s playing XI for the third and final ODI against England. Yet, wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant found no place in the team for the dead rubber. Pant, who was added to India’s squad not just for the ODI series against England but also for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy. After India won the first two matches, changes were expected to be made with the team. While India skipper Rohit Sharma did announce multiple swaps in the playing XI, KL Rahul continued to be persisted for the role behind the stumps as Pant warmed the bench.

It was England skipper Jos Buttler who won the toss and opted to field first. Rohit, however, confirmed that he wanted to bat first anyway. Hence, both captains got what they wanted.

“I wanted to bat first and put runs on the board because we bowled first in the last two games. It was important for us to get a win in the last game. The fielders portrayed themselves well in the last two games, a lot of young blood. We want to continue to do well in the field. They are pretty new in their careers so we want to keep the pressure away from them, let them do their own and they have got a lot of potential.

Rohit announced that Shami and Jadeja were rested for the match but Varun couldn’t participate due to a sore calf issue. Hence, India had to make three changes.

“We have made some changes – Jadeja and Shami have been rested, unfortunately, Varun has a sore calf. So, Washi, Kuldeep, and Arshdeep come into the side,” Rohit said at the time of toss,” said the skipper.

“We are gonna bowl first today. (On whether the expected dew has influenced his decision to bowl first) A little bit maybe, it may spin a bit later. We have batted first in the first two games so it will be a different experience today ahead of the Champions Trophy. It’s a decent wicket, we played New Zealand in the World Cup a few years ago, it was a black soil pitch and it played better in the second half. We have one change – Tom Banton comes in for Jamie Overton into the side,” the England skipper said after the toss. 

India Playing XI: Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh

England Playing XI: Philip Salt(w), Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler(c), Tom Banton, Liam Livingstone, Gus Atkinson, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood, Saqib Mahmood

KL Rahul’s much-anticipated return to Ranji Trophy lasted a mere 37 balls as the India opener was dismissed for 26, leaving Karnataka at 267/5 against Haryana on day one of their must-win Group C match in Bengaluru on Thursday. Making his first Ranji Trophy appearance since February 2020, local hero Rahul walked in at No. 3 to a warm reception from the semi-packed M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, with chants of ‘Rahul, Rahul’ echoing through the stands. The stylish right-hander looked in fine touch from the outset, striking four crisp boundaries in a fluent 54-run stand with Karnataka skipper Mayank Agarwal for the second wicket.

However, just as he appeared to settle down, Rahul fell in the post-lunch session to Haryana’s in-form pacer Anshul Kamboj.

The leading wicket-taker for Haryana this season produced a peach of a delivery that forced the experienced India batter into an edge, with wicketkeeper Rohit Sharma making no mistake behind the stumps.

The Haryana pace spearhead was once again the pick of the bowler as he dismissed opener KV Avneesh (17) before lunch after the visiting side opted to bowl.

Rahul had last featured in a Ranji Trophy match nearly four years ago, against Bengal at the Eden Gardens quarterfinal, where he had scores of 26 and 0 in Karnataka’s 174-run defeat.

This season, his participation was delayed by an elbow injury, which ruled him out of Karnataka’s previous game against Punjab.

His most recent first-class outing before this came in the Duleep Trophy in September last year, where he represented India A in a losing effort.

On a day when everyone wanted Rahul to make it big, it was the India discard and Karnataka skipper Agarwal who shone with an array of shots as he milked the field, hitting three sixes and nine boundaries in his fluent half century.

Agarwal, however, missed out on his 19th first-class hundred by just nine runs, falling to Haryana seamer Anuj Thakral, who returned with 2/74 from his 18 overs.

Talented youngster Devdutt Padikkal also looked in fine nick as he raced to 43 from 93 balls with four boundaries in an entertaining partnership with Agarwal.

But Padikkal also could not convert his start and became Thakral’s second victim in the post-tea session.

On a flat track, the spin duo of Nishant Sindhu and seasoned Jayant Yadav then managed to stymie the flow of runs in the final session.

Sindhu looked tidy in his 1/45 from 19 overs and took the wicket of R Smaran (35) as none of the Karnataka batters could manage to make it big.

Placed third in Group C, the former champions find itself in a precarious position ahead of the knockouts and will need to win outright against Haryana to keep their qualification hopes alive.

As the likes of Rohit Sharma, Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, Yashasvi Jaiswal, etc. joined their respective Ranji Trophy sides, a few others like Virat Kohli and KL Rahul gave the round a miss due to ‘injury issues’. A host of senior Team India stars marked their return to domestic cricket after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) issued a 10-point diktat, all but mandating domestic cricket participation. Kohli and Rahul, who didn’t join their teams in the last round, cited ‘injury concerns’ as the reason behind their absence.

Former India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar, however, raised suspicion on Kohli and Rahul’s ‘injury concerns’, since they didn’t report to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) over the said issues, as is the norm for BCCI-contracted players.

In his column for Sportstar, Gavaskar wondered if Rahul, Kohli and Mohammed Siraj would go on to play for their respective state teams in the next Ranji Trophy round, beginning January 30. He also wonders what action would the BCCI take against players who decide to give this round a miss too.

“It would be interesting to see if KL Rahul, Mohammed Siraj, and Virat Kohli, who didn’t play in last week’s round of Ranji Trophy matches, will play the next round,” he said.

Gavaskar feels players who gave the previous Ranji Trophy round a miss might have done so because of non-injury reasons, even though they claimed to have been battling injuries.

“More interesting would be what action the BCCI takes if they don’t play. Were they injured? Getting a medical certificate for an ‘injury’ is child’s play, and if they are injured, did they go to the NCA for treatment and recovery, as Nitish Reddy was sent the moment he had that side strain?

“Isn’t that the practice for the BCCI-contracted players, that as soon as there’s an injury, they have to report to the NCA, and only after the BCCI experts there certify them as fit can they resume playing for India? For all we know, these players might have opted out of the earlier games for non-injury reasons. We shall soon find out,” he wrote in the column.

Rishabh Pant was named LSG captain© PTI

India’s squad for the upcoming ODIs against England and the Champions Trophy 2025 were announced on Saturday and some of the selections left everyone shocked. Batter Shubman Gill was named as skipper Rohit Sharma‘s deputy in the series over all-rounder Hardik Pandya. Apart from this, another big shock came in the form of Sanju Samson‘s exclusion from the squad. Despite giving breakthrough performances in both ODI and T20I cricket in 2024, Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul were chosen over Samson as India’s wicketkeeping options for the tournament.

Samson hammered three centuries in five T20Is he played in 2024. In his last ODI appearance for India, which came against South Africa in December 2023, he scored 108 runs. 

Despite these stats, he has been snubbed from India’s ODI squads while he has found a spot in the five-match T20I series against England.

Samson’s position in the Indian team has always been an inconsistent one. However, the wicketkeeper-batter has always found support from India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir. Amid his exclusion from the ODIs, Gambhir’s old remark on Samson resurfaced on the internet. 

In an old interaction with ESPNCricinfo in 2020, Gambhir backed Samson for a position in the Indian team.  “You know what, if Sanju Samson is not going to play for India, it’s not Sanju Samson’s loss. It is actually India’s loss, and I hope Sanju Samson is backed the same way Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have been backed. You are losing out on a talent which probably be the No.1 batter in the future,” Gambhir had told ESPNCricinfo.

Gautam Gambhir was criticising selectors, Coach, Captain etc before for not selecting Sanju Samson

He is Head coach now but still Sanju is not selected. Does he speak about it now!? #ChampionsTrophy

pic.twitter.com/Ox32wjWkZt

— Veena Jain (@DrJain21) January 18, 2025

“Unfortunately, we haven’t backed him till now. People sitting in those big rooms, the selection committee should be scratching their hair ‘Why wasn’t Sanju Samson part of the T20 team or the last World Cup?’,” he added.

According to a report by Dainik Jagran, Gambhir once again backed Samson for a spot in the ODIs and the Champions Trophy but Rohit and chief selector Ajit Agarkar opted for Pant and Rahul. 

File image of KL Rahul.© BCCI/IPL

File photo of Virat Kohli© AFP

The Indian cricket team and the Pakistan cricket team remain the sides which are yet to announce their squads for the upcoming February 19-March 9 Champions Trophy. While there was anticipation that the BCCI would name the squad by January 12, it is now expected that the squad would be announced by January 19. Picking a 15-member squad means that many players would miss out. In former India spinner Harbhajan Singh’s 15-member side Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul find no mention. He also thinks Sanju Samson may be preferred over Rishabh Pant.

“We should not get emotional after the defeat in Australia. We need to use our wisdom in picking the best side. So, here goes my Champions Trophy squad of 15,” Harbhajan Singh said on his YouTube channel. 

“Rohit Sharma, captain. Yashasvi Jaiswal should be inducted in ODIs. Virat Kohli at No. 3. Shreyas Iyer at No. 4. He played really well recently. Tilak Varma at No.5. He showed fireworks in T20Is in South Africa.   

“At No. 6, I think one among Sanju Samson or Rishabh Pant should be picked. I feel Sanju would be preferred because he had played in South Africa. Rishabh played well in Australia, but it was a long tour, so if he is rested, it’s not a big thing. 

“Hardik Pandya at No. 7 while Axar Patel is at no. 8. I have not kept Ravindra Jadeja. I think he is ready to don the role of Jadeja. Kuldeep Yadav at No. 9. Jasprit Bumrah at No. 10 and Mohammed Shami at 11. 12th man would be Mohammed Siraj“

The other three picked by Harbhajan are Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shubman Gill and Yuzvendra Chahal. “I also thought about KL Rahul. But I would go with Shubman Gill due to the pace with which he scores in the ODIs,” Harbhajan Singh said.

Harbhajan Singh’s India Squad For Champions Trophy 2025: Rohit Sharma (C), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Rishabh Pant/ Sanju Samson, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal