Gautam Gambhir says batting orders are very overrated after T20I series win against Australia

Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir has opined that batting orders are very overrated after a 2-1 T20I series win against Australia. India, under the tutelage of Gambhir, has changed their batting order consistently in the shortest format of the game.

In the five-match T20I series against Australia, Sanju Samson and Shivam Dube were promoted to number three. Washington Sundar and Axar Patel also got their chances higher in the batting order. Barring the openers, India were not hesitant to change the batting order against the Aussies.

“That has been the ideology from day one when I took over as the head coach, from Sri Lanka till now. It has not changed. I think batting orders are very overrated, except the openers, obviously. The two openers are permanent, the rest, I think, everything shuffles, because it is not the amount of runs that matter in T20 cricket, it’s the impact that matters. People sometimes miscalculate or do not differentiate between the batting order, the runs, and the impact,” Gambhir told BCCI in an interview after the Australia tour.

“That’s the reason from day one, I think it has been a fluid batting order, and that is how we want to play the game. We don’t want to play a game thinking about averages, strike rates, and all that stuff,” Gambhir added

Meanwhile, Gambhir also opened up on the decision of using three of Jasprit Bumrah’s overs in the Powerplay since the Asia Cup. The former Indian opener said they want to be the most aggressive side, not only with the bat, but also in all departments.

“Look, I will tell you one thing, I think a lot of people relate to this T20 side as a very aggressive batting line-up. For me, I think bowling Jassi three in the first six was an even more aggressive option with the ball. We don’t want to be a side that is known as an aggressive batting order. We want to be a side that should be known as an aggressive side overall. Imagine, no one has ever bowled Jassi three in the first six. So, we wanted to go that way as well. We wanted to see how it pans out. I thought it really worked well for us in the Asia Cup,” Gambhir said of the strategy.

“Bowling Jassi three overs obviously makes us win the powerplay, most of the time. And then obviously, we have got two wicket-taking options in the middle with Varun and Kuldeep. So, it gives them a lot of leverage to bowl with freedom in the middle phase,” Gambhir continued.

India will next compete in a two-match Test series against South Africa.