“When will we learn?” - Former India cricketer slams Gambhir & Co. amid NZ vs IND 2026 1st ODI
Former Indian pacer Dodda Ganesh slammed the team management for sending Axar Patel ahead of KL Rahul in the first ODI against New Zealand in Auckland. New Zealand were bowled out for 185 in 40.
Former Indian pacer Dodda Ganesh slammed the team management for sending Axar Patel ahead of KL Rahul in the first ODI against New Zealand in Auckland. New Zealand were bowled out for 185 in 40.2 overs after Shubman Gill chose to field.
Rain kept returning during the reply, trimming India's target from 186 to 167 and then to 143 in 32 overs. Rohit Sharma fell to Kyle Jamieson for a duck in the first over. Gill made 37 and Virat Kohli 74 off 51 balls, reaching his 80th ODI fifty in 35 deliveries with 13 fours and a six, but neither lasted.
India were 124/3 in the 20th over, still short of the revised target, when Axar walked in at No.5, ahead of Rahul. Jacob Duffy found the edge, and Glenn Phillips flung himself to his right at backward point to hold a diving catch, dismissing the all-rounder in a mere two balls.
Reacting to the move to send Axar ahead of Rahul, Dodda Ganesh said on his X handle:
"Axar Patel ahead of KL Rahul at no. 5 despite knowing what KL has done at that position. When will we learn?"
Rahul's turn came at No. 6 in the 21st over, with India 19 runs from the revised target and Axar already back in the pavilion. The veteran right-hander remained unbeaten on 3 off 5 deliveries as India completed the run-chase in the 23rd over with five wickets in hand.
The numbers back Dodda Ganesh's argument
KL Rahul has been a beast for India at No.5 in ODIs, scoring 1,646 runs from 36 innings at an average of 68.58 and a strike rate of 103.19, with four hundreds and 10 fifties. Only AB de Villiers averages higher among batters with 1,000-plus runs at the position.
No. 6 is a different story for Rahul, with only 348 runs from 16 innings at a mediocre average in the mid-30s and a solitary half-century. Overall, the veteran has 3,544 runs from 102 ODIs at 51.36, with nine hundreds and 20 fifties.
Since Gautam Gambhir took charge in July 2024, Axar or Ishan Kishan has often been pushed above Rahul, usually to protect a left-hand-right-hand pairing in the middle overs.
Ganesh's objection is not really about Axar, who has made 283 runs at No. 5 in ODIs at a healthy average of 35.38. It is about what India loses by treating a specialist middle-order batter like KL Rahul as a floater.
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