Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir called cricket a team sport while explaining the management’s decision to demote KL Rahul at number 6 in the batting line-up. Rahul, who started his career as an opener, has been batting at number 6 in the ODIs in recent times. The wicketkeeper batter, who is known for being the quintessential team man, has now comfortably eased up in the new role, which can be seen in the Champions Trophy semi-final against Australia. The 32-year-old took charge in the mega clash and shifted gears at the right moment during his unbeaten 42-run knockoff 34 balls as India won the match by 4 wickets. He finished off the match in style with a six.
Gambhir was asked about Rahul’s demotion in the batting line-up during the post-match press conference, and he bluntly said more than numbers, it’s the impact that matters for him.
“You know in a sport like cricket and in a team sport, numbers don’t matter, batting positions don’t matter, it’s the impact that matters,” Gambhir told reporters.
The Indian head coach sends a clear message that the player’s primary focus is to get a place in the XI and then do what the team demands, which he feels Rahul is happy to do.
“You should only be thinking of picking yourself in the playing 11 and rest whatever is needed of you to do it for the team you should be happily doing it and KL has done that and KL has done that really happily and he’s done that really well at number six as well,” he added.
Rahul started off things against Australia with the approach of rotating strikes at regular intervals, but after the drinks break, he stepped foot on the accelerator to make it a cakewalk for India.
‘KL Rahul gives us more depth…’: Gambhir
Gambir further elaborated on the decision to push Rahul to the number 6 as he feels that the move has helped them achieve more depth in the batting order.
“People keep talking about it, I don’t know for how long they’ve been talking about it, why we’ve pushed KL at number six. Just we feel that he gives us more depth, and that is how we want to play the game. And the conversations which I’ve had with him or the conversations which I’ve had with everyone is exactly the same that in a team sport, especially in cricket and in this format, we are not going to talk about batting positions. We’re going to talk about how can we create that impact and what is needed of the team. We’ll continue doing that,” he said.
