Revised title: Gambhir's Controversial Axar Patel-KL Rahul Swap Under Fire: Is It Wise to Experiment When Facing 5/3?

India emerged victorious in the consecutive ODI matches against England in their home ground, effectively sealing the ongoing series. This remarkable performance is seen as a precursor to the upcoming Champions Trophy, scheduled to commence in less than two weeks. The Indian team demonstrated commendable skills, ticking most of the necessary boxes, with captain Rohit Sharma making an emphatic return to form. However, amidst their stellar display, one particular strategy employed by India raised some questions across the two games.

India won both games in Nagpur and Cuttack by four wickets. However, in both matches, India head coach made a pre-planned ploy of sending left-handed batter Axar Patel at No. 5, ahead of wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul. The move neither sat well with fans on social media during the series opener, nor with former India cricketer Dodda Ganesh, who voiced his opinion on the move during both matches.

Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, on Sunday, Ganesh lashed out at Gambhir's “mindless experiment” before the Champions Trophy, asking if he would have pulled off a same had there been a top-order collapse for just five runs.

“Axar Patel again ahead of KL Rahul? I’m speechless. Does it make any sense to push a genuine batter like Rahul to no 6? When you’re 5/3, do you’ve the courage to send Axar on a tricky pitch? If not, what sense does this experiment make? Absolutely mindless this,” he tweeted.

Earlier during the opening game on Thursday, Ganesh had questioned the same swap in the batting line-up. He had tweeted: "KL Rahul has been best at no 5; but the wisemen in the dressing room find different ways to demote him in this batting lineup. Absolutely ridiculous. What are you going to achieve by sending Axar at no 5?"

How have Axar and Rahul fared against England?

While the move largely favoured Axar, who scored 52 in Nagpur and an unbeaten 41 in Cuttack, while also picking a wicket in two games, Rahul, pushed down to No. 6, managed just 12 runs in two innings. Rahul has only batted two other times at this position in his career, accumulating a total of 54 runs at 18.

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