Former England captain Kevin Pietersen.
Credit: Reuters File Photo
Gautam Gambhir has had a tumultuous start to his tenure as the coach of the Indian men's cricket team, to say the least. After a humbling 0-3 whitewash defeat against New Zealand in the October-November home Test series last year, India failed to bounce back in the much hyped Border-Gavaskar Trophy against fierce rivals Australia that ended on January 7 this year. The Aussies defeated India 3-1, which ended the Men in Blue's hopes of reaching the World Test Championships finals.
However, the Indian cricket team seem to be getting back their rhythm in white-ball cricket ahead of the all-important ICC Champions Trophy, with them already bagging the ongoing 5-match T20I series against England with one game still remaining. The Suryakumar Yadav-led team have taken an unassailable 3-1 lead against the English after their 15-run victory against the latter on Friday, 31st January.
Team India's only defeat in the series so far came in the 3rd T20I, where the English side managed to secure the victory by 26 runs. In that match, a certain decision by coach Gautam Gambhir and the Indian team management did not go down well with former England captain and batting legend Kevin Pietersen.
The Jos Buttler-led English side scored 171/9 in the first inning of the match, which was played at Rajkot. The Men in Blue failed to chase the score, ending their inning at 145/9, falling 26 runs of the target. India batter Dhruv Jurel came out to the pitch very late in the inning, even after the likes of Washington Sundar and Axar Patel.
Slamming this decision, Pietersen made his disapproval known about Jurel coming to bat this low down the order.
Before the start of the 4th T20I on Friday, which India won to clinch the series, Pietersen said on Star Sports,"In the last match, Dhruv Jurel didn't even get to bat. What is he in the team for? I don't like this right and left combination. You bat your best batters and give them the best chance to bat more balls, be it at the top of the order, at number 3 or number 4. If you keep thinking left-right, right-left, you put your best batters out of the game. I have criticised teams who have gone with this thought process."
India and England clash in the fifth and final T20 International in Mumbai at 7 pm IST on Sunday.