Indian cricket team's assistant coach Abhishek Nayar came to the defence of head coach Gautam Gambhir and justified some of the strategies that led to the team's loss in the second ODI against Sri Lanka, on Sunday, August 5, at Colombo.
MORE: Gautam Gambhir gets criticised for reshuffling India's batting lineup
One of the main talking points following India's 32-run defeat was the team's promotion of allrounder Shivam Dube to number 4, instead of experienced 50-over campaigners Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul.
Dube was dismissed for a four-ball duck which put India in a difficult position. Iyer and Rahul who came into bat later were unable to make things any better as the latter did not fare any better, as he bowled for a two-ball duck.
Jeffrey Vandersay, who finished with a record best figures of 6/33 in his ten overs, became the first spinner to pick up all the first six wickets of the opposition's innings in an ODI.
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Why did KL Rahul bat at Number 7 in the 2nd ODI against Sri Lanka?
Speaking at the post-match press conference, assistant coach Abhishek Nayar, the team's batting order was reshuffled in order to maintain a left-hand, right-hand combination in the middle against Sri Lanka's spinners.
Shivam Dube was pushed up the order to No. 4, Shreyas Iyer's entry was delayed as he came in at No. 6, while KL Rahul batted at No. 7
While their strategy worked out pretty well in the T20I series, it backfired in the ongoing ODI series as India are trailing behind 0-1 in the series, having tied the first game and lost the second game, both from commanding positions.
"My belief is that in any sport, position only matters if you're playing in different areas of a game. We lost wickets in the middle phase, and that's where the middle order batters batted. It's not as if middle order batters batted towards the end," Nayar said.
MORE: When did India last lose a bilateral ODI series to Sri Lanka?
"If you look at numbers like four, five, or six, maybe sometimes it can play games in your head. It was more about keeping a left-and-right combination, keeping in mind that there were offspinners, and a legspinner in the Sri Lanka team," he added
However, their attempts to counter the Sri Lankan spinners in the middle overs and in particular leg spinner Jeffrey Vandersay failed as India lost a bundle of wickets between overs 14 and 24 where they scored 50 runs, losing all six wickets to the leg spinner.
"The thought process was right. When it doesn't work out, these questions are asked often. But I've always believed that if a middle order batter bats as a middle order batter, it is the right decision," Nayar concluded.
India will take on Sri Lanka in the third and final ODI of the tour on Wednesday, August 7, at Colombo, where they will look to equalise and draw the series.
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