The Indian team has suffered a setback in the ODI series between India and Sri Lanka. While the first ODI was tied, the Indian team lost to Sri Lanka by 32 runs in the second ODI. Due to this, the Indian team is forced to level the series by winning the last ODI match.

The reason for this is believed to be the poor results of coach Gautam Gambhir. Gambhir’s experiments, which claimed to try a left-right combination with two changes in the Indian batting order, have been criticized. Due to this, some opinions have also been raised that the Indian team has no chance of winning the Champions Trophy series.

Ashish Nehra raised questions on Gautam Gambhir’s coaching

Ashish Nehra, a former teammate of captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Gautam Gambhir, was asked the same question after Sri Lanka took a crucial 1-0 lead. He did not give a direct answer but criticised Gambhir for focusing on Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma while he could have tried new players in the series.

According to the report, the senior batsmen made themselves available for the series after Gambhir’s request. India’s current Sri Lanka tour is Gambhir’s first tour as India’s head coach, and he wanted to spend time with Kohli and Rohit to understand the team.

Nehra said Gambhir should have waited as he was not new to the two star players, and instead should have tried out other players and tested India’s bench strength.

Ashish Nehra said on Sony Sports-

“India’s next series is after 2-3 months, which is a rare thing for us. So for players like Rohit and Kohli…I think there was a better chance to give opportunities to other players during this series. I know Gambhir is the new coach and he wants to spend some time with the experienced players, but it’s not like he doesn’t know both of them.”

“He is not a foreign coach who wants to get his equation right with Kohli and Rohit. So it was a good opportunity for him to try out new players and Rohit and Kohli could play when the domestic season starts. I am not saying it is the wrong way, but it could have been one of the strategies in this series.”

Riyan Parag, Rishabh Pant, Harshit Rana and Khaleel Ahmed have not played in either of the two ODIs and it will be interesting to see if India make changes to their playing XI for the third and final ODI. Usually, teams try out their bench strength after sealing the series with an unassailable lead.