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Former Indian cricketer and commentator Sanjay Manjrekar has slammed the Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir for his decision to include Washington Sundar ahead of Axar Patel in the Super8 clash against South Africa in Ahmedabad.
Notably, India suffered a 76-run defeat to the Proteas as Washington Sundar managed to score only 11 runs and bowled only two overs, without scalping a wicket. On the other hand, the vice-captain and all-rounder Axar Patel was benched, keeping match-ups in mind.
“Kailash Jeevan, there used to be a medicine by that name back in the day. If you had a headache, you'd apply it. If you had a stomachache, you'd take it. It was an all-in-one remedy. Gautam Gambhir seems to have one remedy for all problems. Everybody knows his name — Washington Sundar. If there's a batting issue, Washi is the answer. If there's a bowling problem, same answer. He was promoted up the order. Shivam Dube came at No. 6, Hardik Pandya came at No. 7 today, and Rinku... it's a bit too much,” Sanjay Manjrekar said on Sports Next.
Furthermore, the Indian batting coach Sitanshu Kotak has reckoned that the Indian team, headed by Gautam Gambhir and Suryakumar Yadav, feels that if they need to do something different, there would be some changes in their XI.
"If the head coach and team management feel we need to do something different, we will do things differently. Definitely, a thought now comes, if we have to change, what do we change and how do we change?" batting coach Sitanshu Kotak said.
"Now we have reached a point where we need to think if we need to do something different or stick with the same combination," Kotak added.
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