Visakhapatnam: Gautam Gambhir’s penchant for shuffling cricketers has often come under sharp scrutiny, but the head coach insisted that “batting order is overrated” in white ball cricket, strongly hinting of him sticking to his trusted ways.

Forced by the combination, Ruturaj Gaikwad, a genuine opener, had to bat at No. 4 in the just-concluded ODI series, while all-rounder Washington Sundar has been a perennial floater in the line-up.

Gambhir’s reasoning

But Gambhir had his reasons.

“I think in a one-day format, you should know the template that you want to play with. I’ve always believed that in white-ball cricket, batting orders are very overrated, except the opening combination,” said Gambhir in the post-match press conference here after India sealed a 2-1 ODI series win over the P

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